I Hold On
by Loving.And.Awkward
Summary: Katherine 'Katie' Rogers - daughter of Steve Rogers and Peggy Carter - has the Super-Soldier Serum in her DNA, causing her to age slower compared to a normal human. What happens when she gets a call from Nick Fury one day in 2011, letting her know her father is alive. - Longer summary in profile.
1. Prologue

The sound of her heels clicking on the polished black flooring was all that could be heard as she walked down the seemingly, never-ending hallway.

Eyes staring straight ahead and long, blonde, hair swaying down her back, she kept her face unreadable as the room she was heading to came closer and closer. She resisted the urge to pull her jacket closer, to protect herself from the cold feeling she was getting.

She was use to the coldness this place gave off by now. After all, she was there when this place first got lifted off the ground. Of course, it was a lot smaller back than compared to what it's like now.

However, over the years, she _tried_ stayed away, wanting nothing to do with S.H.E.I.L.D.

It changed, but of course it would. Of course it was different from what it was like back in the late 40's, early 50's. Still, she would never get use to walking down the halls, knowing she wasn't going to see her mothers beautiful face, or 'uncle's' classic smirk.

Really, she had other ideas on how she was going to spend her day. But, when she got an urgent call from the director, telling her to come down right away, telling her _he _was awake, she knew she had to. Though part of her still didn't want to.

Slowing down and coming to a stop, she turned to her left, staring at the door in front of her for a few moments before pushing it open to find two men standing inside, one in a suit and the other in a black trench-coat and eyepatch.

"You called?" She spoke up in her American accent, but stayed in the doorway.

Turning towards the door, Agent Coulson gave her a nod and slight smile as Nick Fury spoke up, never turning away from the wall in front of him.

"Didn't think you'd come."

"Did you really?" She raised an elegant eyebrow. "Cause I'm pretty sure you did."

This time, Fury did turn. He gave her an unreadable look before turning back to the one-sided window in front of him, beckoning her to step forward as he did so.

She hesitated for a moment, something she didn't do much. But, she knew that the moment she stepped into that room, her life was going to change. And she didn't know if it was for better or for worse yet.

Still, she swallowed her pride and held her head high, before stepping slowly into the room. She walked up to Coulson and Fury, standing in between them and staring into the window.

Her bright blue eyes focused in on the room in front of her.

A man… well, not just any man. _Captain America_, Steve Rogers, he was sitting on the edge of the bed in a room that looked like a hospital room. His hands are folded on his lap and he was looking down at them, making it impossible to see his whole face. It seemed like he didn't know they where watching him, or if he did, he was hiding it well.

She couldn't believe it. After all these years… She stared into the room, not blinking as she held her breath.

She was here to, _finally_, talk to him. But now, as she watched him and studied the confused look he had on his face, a part of her didn't want to. And that part grew bigger and bigger with every passing second she watched him.

"Well," Fury spoke from behind her, almost causing her to jump. _Almost. _"I guess this is where introductions are in order."

She didn't reply, through she was about to. However, the moment the words left Fury's mouth, it was almost as if Steve heard them, because his face suddenly lifted and he turned to the one-way window.

On his end, all he saw was himself. But, on her end, she saw a lost man. A man out of his time. A perfect man. The perfect solider. She saw a man with blonde hair, parted in the perfect 40's style, which showed just how much he was out-of-place. However, the thing that caught her eye the most, was when her eyes landed on his. Baby-blue met baby-blue. If she only focused on his eyes, it was like looking in the mirror.

And, it was at that moment, the moment when her eyes found his, that she knew she couldn't do this. She had to get out. And it only took Fury's next words to make her do so.

"Meet your father, Ms. Rogers."

**I Hold On.  
>Chapter One, coming January 19th, 2015.<strong>


	2. American Kids

_American Kids - Kenny Chesney._

_"Family is not an important thing. It's everything." - Michael J. Fox._

* * *

><p>People seem to think, that if you live forever, or if you are immortal - whatever bullshit people thought these days - life passes you by in a blur.<p>

This couldn't be more untrue.

Imagine sitting in a car and looking out the window, unfocused. You'd see everything pass you by in a blur of colours, right? Well, that's how normal people see their lives.

Everyone has the same thing on their minds. Make it through high school, get a job, find love, get married, have kids, die. That seems like everyone's big plan in life. And everyone is so caught up on making this happen, they don't realize everything they miss.

Katie, however, is an exception to this case.

Being sixty-five years old and not looking a day over twenty-five could have something to do with it. That, and the fact her life span is basically ten times longer than that of normal humans. Unfortunately Katie doesn't see her life pass by in a blur. Oh no. The opposite actually.

She remembers everything. She can tell the years apart. She knows the difference between what happened in 1999 and 2000, while normal people blended years and forget if something happened in 2005, or 2006. She remembered where she had been each year, who she had met, who she had talked to. She remembered everything about her life.

_Her_ life did not pass her by in a blur. Though sometimes, most times, she wished it did. It would be easier to forget the pain and hurt of losing someone that way.

Yes. Katherine Stephanie Rogers' life would be much easier if her years blurred together.

Of course, her life had never been easy. Even from the moment she was born. If it was, she would have been able to use 'Rogers' as her last name instead of 'Carter'.

Sighing, Katie watched the world around her zoom by from inside the cab as they drove down one of the many streets in D.C. She wished she was back in Tennessee right now.

She had been enjoying her life there. But _no_, Nick Fury had ruined that when he called and said _he _was wake. She had gone to New York with the intention of finally taking to... _him_ after sixty-odd years. But look how well that had turned out. And for some reason, she couldn't bring herself to leave. Not yet. She feels like she has to stay. For a little while longer. And it's bugging her so much. Because she doesn't know why or what is keeping her here.

Ripping her long, blond hair out of its high pony tail, Katie ran her fingers through it, trying to stop her mind from wandering.

But she failed.

It was only about a month or so since she was last at S.H.I.E.L.D, since she walked out on Nick and Phil, before she got a change to talk to _him_. To Captain America. Her father.

She wasn't some teenager who hated her father for leaving her and her mother. God no. In fact, she didn't hate or blame him at all. She understood why he had done what he did, and if anything, she loved him even more because of it. It's just, over the years, she'd learned that the more you got to know someone, the more it hurt when they left.

Which goes back to how easy Katie's life would be if years blended and she forgot easily.

It was hard not getting old along with the rest of the world. Yes, she aged. But not at the rate of a normal human. That, alone, made it hard for her to get close to anyone these days. It hurt every time she found out one of her friends was gone, never to come back. Or that she was never going to get to talk to someone she'd grown up with back in the 50's again.

It hurt ever more when she found out Howard Stark, who she had grown up with and was basically an uncle to her, and his wife Maria were killed. She couldn't move when she got that phone call. She couldn't breathe, she didn't move out of bed for days. It had hurt too bad.

At the time, it had been a good fifteen years since the last time they had seen each other, but they talked on the phone all the time and he was always there for her. He was the fun, crazy Uncle Howard.

And she couldn't even repay the favour and be there for his son, Tony. Not when he was - and is - in the spotlight so much. Someone would be sure to pick up on the fact that she never aged. No, the last time she'd seen

Tony was back when he was five, so he probably didn't even remember or know of her now.

She knew how hard Howard had been on him, she'd told him this several times, but he never listened to her. And, a part of her felt like it was her fault Howard had been so hard on Tony. The man had spent most of his time trying to find _her_ father, at least when Tony was a baby and kid. So, he never spent much time with Tony growing up which ruined anything they could have had in the future.

She didn't know why she felt like it was her fault, she had never told Howard to look for her father, she had even told him several times after Tony was born to _stop_ looking. But he never did, and Katie knew he'd just wanted her to have her dad, and he had wanted to find his friend.

But, of course, she kept up with the times. She knew all about Tony and what he had become. She knew what he was like and that he was Iron Man. And she was sure Howard would be proud of his son. If he was here.

Yes. Katie Stephanie Carter's life would be way easier if her years blurred together

The building Katie was heading to suddenly came into view, and she quickly got some money ready to pay the cab driver as he pulled over, before stepping out of the car.

She walked down the sidewalk a little ways, hands in the pockets of her jacket, before she reached the building and walked through the front door, her boots clicking on the tile floor.

It'd been about a year since the last time she was here, so luckily she didn't have to apply much makeup to make her look older, which she would have to do in a few years if she was going to keep visiting.

"Ms Carter," The receptionist smiled at her. "It's been a while."

Katie smiled back, coming to a stop at the front desk. "How is she?"

"Your Great-Aunt is doing as good as can be expected," The receptionist, Anna, informed her. "She hasn't gotten worse, but she isn't any better either."

Katie nodded, her smile dropping slightly. "Can I see her?"

"Of course!" Anna walked out from behind the desk. "I'll walk you."

"Thank you." Katie smiled once more before following the women down the hall.

"So," Anna tried to start a conversation. "What brings you back to DC?"

"I decided to take some time off school," Katie lied though her teeth, something that came easily to her after years of practice. "I wanted to visit my Aunt again, so I decided to spend some time in Washington. Besides, LA was getting boring."

"Well, I'll gladly switch places with you," Anna laughed.

Katie let out a forced laugh as they stopped in front of a door, before she turned to Anna, smile on face. "Thank you, Anna."

"No problem," Anna smiled back. "Take as long as you like."

Katie nodded once more before Anna turned and made her way back towards the front desk.

Turning towards the door, Katie slowly turned the doorknob and pushed it open, where she saw the same sight she saw every other time she entered the room.

The curtains to the window on the wall to Katie's left were opened, causing the warm sunlight to shine into the room. There was paintings hanging on the walls, a dresser on the wall to Katie's right next to which a door was situated that lead to the bathroom. It was a simple room.

But, Katie's eyes went straight to the bed in the middle of the wall in front of her. A nightstand was standing next to it, with several framed pictures decorating it. And there, laying on the bed, was Peggy Carter, grey haired and wrinkled face, her eyes closed.

Carefully closing the door behind her, Katie slowly walked into the room, smiling a sad smile as she sat in the chair next to the side of the bed, not stopping the warm feeling she suddenly felt from seeing her mother for the first time in a year.

Mother, not Great-Aunt.

Katie now told people Peggy was her Great-Aunt, it was easier that way. People wouldn't question why her mother was ninety-odd years old while Katie looked no older than twenty-five. And she couldn't tell people Peggy was her grandmother, that was too easy to trace back. The only 'Katie Carter' they would find would be Peggy's daughter who had no father listed. They would also find out that 'Katie Carter' has dead.

She sat there for a few moments, watching her mother with a small smile still on her face. Then, Peggy suddenly turned her head, now facing Katie's direction, her eyes opening slowly were unfocused at first, before they lit up at the sight of her daughter.

"Katie." Peggy breathed as she smiled brightly.

"Hi mum." Kate smiled back, her British accent sneaking in like it always did when she talked to her mother. Her accent wasn't as strong as her mother's, far from it, but it did come out when she said certain words.

"It's been so long."

"I'm sorry." Katie gave a light laugh. "I've been busy."

Peggy nodded, her eyes moving all over her daughters face to see what had changed over the past year, though Katie knew nothing had. She still looked exactly the same.

The smile on Peggy's face dropped slightly however, after looking over her daughter. Katie knew her mother knew something was wrong. If there was one person who could read Katie, even after all these years of hiding, it was Peggy Carter.

"What's wrong?" Peggy asked after a few moments as Katie titled her head to the side.

"What do you mean? Nothing's-"

"Katherine."

Katie looked her mother in the eyes for a moment before shifting to look at her lap, biting her bottom lip slightly as she pondered over what to tell her mother.

She debated not telling Peggy about Steve, she really did. But Katie knew her mother had the right to know, and it would be a lot easier to explain her problem if Katie didn't leave out the biggest detail. But, she also knew her mother. She knew that Peggy would tell her to give him a chance, to talk to him.

Right now though, Katie didn't want to. She didn't want to get close to him. She didn't need someone to look out or care for her, she spent the past thirty years or so on her own, and she was getting by just fine.

However, when Katie looked up at her mother once more and looked into her eyes, she sadly remembered that it didn't matter if she told her mother about Steve or not.

Because Peggy wasn't going to remember that Katie told her about him in a few minutes.

Taking a deep breath Katie looked up at the painting above her mother's bed as she spoke.

"They found him."

Katie didn't need to say anything else. She didn't need to explain herself, cause she could tell by the way her mother's eyes lit up and went wide that she knew exactly what her daughter was talking about.

"What?" Peggy breathed.

"They found him, mum." Katie explained, her British accent coming out a tiny bit more. "He was frozen in ice for seventy-years. And… and he's alive." Katie let out a laugh that sounded bitter to her ears.

"It's like, he's been asleep for seventy-years. He went to sleep in 1945 and woke up in 2011."

"Katie." Peggy reached across the bed and grabbed her daughter's hand, holding it in her two wrinkled ones.

Katie sighed, looking into her mother's eyes before speaking softly.

"He looks the same as he did the day he went down, mum." She told her. "But, he's lost. He doesn't fit in. Not yet. The last thing he remembers is crashing the plane."

"Katie," Peggy repeated, smiling suddenly. "This… this is wonderful."

Katie titled her head slightly, eyebrows pinched together.

"Mum?"

"You don't have to be alone anymore." Peggy explained. "You'll have someone, someone there with you when I'm gone. Someone who will protect and help you. Someone who will care for you. Katie, you'll have your father."

Katie looked away from her mother's eyes, unable to look to her anymore. Instead, she turned to the pictures that sat on the bed-side table. There were five and they were old pictures. However, Katie's eyes ignored two of the five, and went straight to three specific ones. There was one of Katie and Peggy when Katie was first born, one of Steve pre-serum, and one of Howard, Katie and Peggy when Katie was about five and she was holding up a birthday gift from Howard and her mother. A red, blue and white shield with a star in the middle.

A small smile started to form on Katie's face as she looked at the picture, the ghostly laugher of her five-year-old self echoing of the walls, squealing with excitement.

She couldn't tell her mother she hadn't talk to him yet. She couldn't tell her mother that she didn't want to talk to him. That was Peggy's biggest wish, for Katie to know her father and what kind of man he was, is.

Katie couldn't destroy that wish for her.

But, she didn't have to tell her mother anything anyways.

"You haven't talked to him."

Katie's eyes snapped back to Peggy. It wasn't a question but a statement, and Katie could see her mother's eyes watching her closely as she waited for her daughter to answer.

"No," Katie sighed. "I haven't. But I have seen him."

"Why? How come?" Peggy asked, as if she only heard the 'no'.

"I just…" Katie paused, looking down. "I don't want to get close to him cause then it'll hurt when he leaves."

"Who says he's going to leave?" Peggy questioned. "I know your father, and once he finds out about you, he would never leave."

"But people always leave." Katie said so low, she was sure her mother didn't hear her.

Peggy was silent for a few moments as she studied her daughter for a moment longer.

"Does he know about you?"

"No, he doesn't. And as of right now, I don't know if I want him to." Katie said, shaking her head, her pony tail flying behind her as Peggy sighed, gripping Katie's hands tighter.

"I know you've had a hard life," Peggy said. "But, you don't have to run from everyone in the world, sweetie. Image if everyone lived their life like that, being scared to get close to anyone in case they left. The world would be one lonely place."

Peggy looked over at the pictures on the bedside table, smiling to herself, before turning back to her daughter.

"You were a big daddy's girl, you know." Peggy said suddenly as Katie smiled a little. "Everyone said you were a mum's girl, but I knew better. You looked up to him so much. Howard made you that shield because you wanted to be just like him."

Katie continued to smile as her mother laughed at the memory, before she looked back at Katie with a serious, but soft look on her face.

"Talk to him," Peggy said. "Just for an hour or so. I know how guarded you can be, Katie. Just, tell him about yourself and talk to him. Get to know him a bit. Then, decide if you never want to talk to him again.

Besides, I know he'll love you and he would never even dream of leaving."

Katie felt like a silly teenager asking, but she couldn't help herself.

"You think so?"

Peggy let out an airy laugh. "What's not to love?"

Katie also let out a laugh as she thought over what her mother said.

Over the years, Katie had gotten used to cutting herself off from the world. Mainly because she never stayed in one place for too long. She didn't like to get close to people, it was just who she was. Because they always left.

Sometimes they were killed or died, sometimes not. Either way, Katie didn't get close to people at all.

But, maybe it was time to change that. Maybe, she should talk to her father, at least for a while. Just to see what he was like. After all, what was the worst that could happen. He was her father after all. And as much as Katie wanted to deny it, she was a big daddy's girl, she really did want to talk to him, and she was beyond happy that he was actually alive.

"Okay, I'll think about it." Katie sighed, glancing back over at the picture of her eight-year-old self holding a shield, smiling slightly. "But I was a mummy's girl too… Mum?"

Katie watched as her mother's eyes went unfocused for a moment as she stared off at the wall in front of her. Taking a deep breath, Katie looked down at their holding hands before looking back up at her mother's face, watching as her eyes came back to focus and she slowly turned to Katie, her eyes lighting up.

"Katie?"

Katie nodded, a slightly sad smile on her face. "Hi Mum."

"It's been so long."

"I know, I'm sorry." Katie squeezed her mother's hand. "I've been busy."

* * *

><p><strong>Thanks so much for all the love! You guys rock and I hope you continue to read and enjoy the story. And t<strong>**hank you to _Tospringe_ for editing this chapter!**

**Please note, this story - as of now - will NOT be following Agent Carter.  
><strong>

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	3. Drinking Class

_Drinking Class - Lee Brice._

_"Family mean no one gets left behind or forgotten." - David Ogden Stiers._

* * *

><p><span><em>May 4th, 1951.<em>

_"Okay, Kay. Are you ready for your last gift?"_

_The little five-year-old in question looked up at her dark-haired uncle. A smile of excitement broke out on her face as she nodded her head, her two long, blonde french braids flying behind her._

_They were now sitting in the middle of S.H.I.E.L.D., which was basically Katie's home. They, being Katie, her mother, Uncle Howard, Ches (only Katie was able to call Chester Phillips that), and a few members of S.H.I.E.L.D. and the Howling Commandos. There were a few chairs around for people to sit on, alone with a small cake on one of the desks and a small pile of already opened gifts next to it._

_As Howard turned around and walked out of the room, Peggy walked up to her daughter and knelt in front of her._

_"This one's from me and your Uncle Howard, okay?" Peggy told Katie, who was basically bouncing in her seat with excitement, her blue eyes shining in the dim light of the building._

_Peggy smiled at her daughter before standing back up as Howard walked back into the room, his hands behind his back as a smirk formed on his lips._

_"You ready?"_

_"Yes, Uncle Howard!" Katie laughed, kneeling up in the chair._

_Slowly, Howard removed his hands from behind his back, revealing the gift._

_Katie's eyes grew wide as they landed on a small circle. It wasn't too big, big enough for an five-year-old. It had a red circle outline, then a white one, then red again, and finally, the middle colored in blue along with a big, white star in the very centre._

_Katie squealed with excitement as she took the mini, kid friendly version of her father's shield out of Howard's hand. She held it in front of her with a big smile on her face before holding it to her chest._

_"I think she likes it," Timothy, 'Dum-Dum', chuckled._

_"Ready to go fright some bad guys now, Katie?" Jim smiled at the little girl, who started to nod her head before her mother cut her off._

_"Not likely." Peggy glared slightly at Jim, but she couldn't stop the smile from tugging at her lips._

_"But mummy," Katie whined, jumping off the chair. "I want to fight bad guys just like daddy did!"_

_"How about we eat some cake first," Howard laughed, jumping in before Peggy answered. Glancing up, Howard watched as Peggy shook her head before she walked over the cake to cut some pieces._

_"Hey kid," Chester Phillips spoke up and Katie turned around to look at him. "How 'bout you try on that shield?"_

_Katie face lit up at the idea as she nodded her head as fast as she could, before placing the blue, red and white shield on her arm - with the help of Howard - and holding it up in front of her._

_"Looks good on ya," Phillips smiled, sitting back in his chair with crossed arms._

_"Mummy!" Katie squealed. "Look!"_

_Turning around, Peggy looked at her daughter, a smile - somewhat sad - breaking out on her face at the sight of her five-year-old standing there with the shield on her arm._

_"Come here," Peggy placed the knife down, walking over to her daughter and kneeling down beside her. "Let's take a picture."_

_Katie smiled and nodded at her mother. Peggy stepped back and handed the camera off to Phillips, who rolled his eyes before taking it out of Peggy's hands._

_Peggy walked over and knelt back down next to Katie, the two of them smiling up at the camera as Phillips took the picture._

_"You too, Uncle Howard!" Katie ran over to Howard and grabbed his hand, pulling him into the photo too before he could say anything._

_Shaking his head, Howard chuckled at the blonde girl before kneeling down next to her too. The three of them smiled up at the camera, Katie holding the shield in front of her, as a white flash went off…_

_Present Day_

Katie's eyes snapped opened as the running water that was beating off her back suddenly started to turn from hot to cold. She didn't know how long she had stood there, under the running water of the shower, but it was obviously long enough for the water to start feeling like ice when hitting her.

Sighing, Katie shut off the water before stepping out into the equally cold bathroom, trying to shake the memory from her head.

She didn't want to think about the past right now.

What she wanted was a drink. A strong one. A really strong one seeing that she couldn't get drunk anyways.

Damn side effects.

Quickly drying herself off and running a towel through her hair so it was only slightly damp, Katie walked out of the bathroom. The hallway of her apartment was dark and shadowy, only to be lit up from the now opened bathroom door.

She didn't have tons of different houses and apartments all over the world. That was another thing normal people thought about people who lived 'forever' - they had thousands of homes and millions of dollars. Not true. Katie wasn't rich. Yes, she had money saved up after all these years, but she worked hard for it. Also, she only had two homes. Her home in Tennessee and this apartment. And the only reason she had this apartment was because of her mother being here, in DC.

Turning off the bathroom light, Katie navigated in the dark to her bedroom across the hall.

It was dark in there too, with the only light in the room coming from the small clock on her bedside table that read 11:27pm in bright, red letters.

After flicking on the lights, Katie quickly - so she could get her damn drink and calm her thoughts a bit - pulled on a pair of pajama pants and a tank-top before making her way out into the kitchen through the dark apartment.

_Now let's get me this damn drink_. Katie thought to herself as she flicked on the lights in the living room and kitchen.

However, the moment the lights came on, Katie froze in her spot when she saw a tall, dark figure sitting on her living room couch.

Her heart and mind only worked overtime for a moment however, before she realized who it was. She relaxed once again before making her way over to the kitchen as she snorted.

"Security breach."

"If the biggest security breach you're going to get is me breaking in," Nick Fury spoke up as Katie walked up to one of the cupboards and opened it, "You'll lead an easy life, Ms Rogers."

Katie froze as she reached in the cupboard for a glass. That was the second time he called her '_Rogers'_, and she didn't know how she felt about that. Part of her liked the sound of it, the other part wasn't used to it, and the name even sounded foreign to her.

"You know," Katie spoke as she came out of her shock, taking two glasses out of the cupboard. "Just because… _he's_ suddenly alive doesn't mean I'm changing my last name."

"I'm just calling you by your name." Nick pointed out plainly.

Katie rolled her eyes, walking over to the corner cupboard and bending over, pulling out a bottle of whiskey.

"No. You're calling me by his last name," Katie countered, turning back around and walked over to the island to pour the drinks. "On my birth certificate it says-"

"On the birth certificate that was planted by your mother so no one would find out about you, it says Carter." Nick cut her off, standing up from the couch and walking over to stand on the other side on the island. "On your real birth certificate it says Rogers."

Katie stared up at Nick for a few moments, her eyes hard, eyebrows pinched together as she studied his equally hard face. Then, she let out a dry laugh before putting the cover back on the bottle and placing it back in the cupboard.

"I forgot," Katie walked back over to the island, picking up her drink and pushing the other towards Nick. "You're the Director. You know everything."

"I don't know everything, Ms Rogers." Nick said. "I just know most things."

"What do you want Nick?" Katie sighed, running a hand through her hair as she walked over to the small, round kitchen table, sitting down. "It's late. I'm tired. And I just want to drink."

Nick studied her for a few moments with an unreadable look on his face, before he pushed off the island and walked over to the table, joining Katie by sitting down.

"You walked away."

"That I did." Katie nodded, taking a sip of her drink.

She knew what he was getting at. Yes, she walked out. She walked out on him, Phil and her father when she was supposed to talk to him. But, her father didn't know that. As of right now, Steve Rogers didn't even know he had a daughter.

And she really doubted Nick was butt-hurt over the fact she walked out on him. Besides, it wouldn't be the first time she walked out on the Director.

Nick sighed, obviously frustrated with Katie now.

"Katherine." Nick pinched the bridge of his nose with his figures. "You need to talk to him."

Katie's eyebrows narrowed together. Her mother had said those same words to her earlier, but it didn't sound half as nice coming out of Nick's mouth.

"Why do you care so much? It's my life."

"Is it so hard to believe I want you to be happy."

"Well, you aren't the most caring person I've met, to be honest."

Nick watched Katie for a moment, as if he was prying into her mind. Katie looked back with a confused look on her face. She could tell Nick was waiting for a reaction of some kind. The only problem was, Katie didn't know what he was waiting for her to react to. Suddenly, Katie started to feel uncomfortable under the Director's intense glare and looked down at her drink. Picking up the glass, Katie took a slow sip with her eyes closed before placing the glass down again. This time, however, when she opened her eyes, she found Nick watching her with pinched eyebrows.

"I assumed you knew everything that happens within S.H.I.E.L.D.."

"You mean you assumed I hacked the system." Katie let out an airy laugh, but she was confused where this conversation was going. "I don't know what you all think of me over there, but I don't look into S.H.I.E.L.D.'s personal files. That's Stark."

"How do you know Stark hacks S.H.I.E.L.D.?" Nick raised an eyebrow, causing Katie to roll her eyes.

"I may not hack the system, but I'm not deaf," Katie smirked. "I heard you grumbling about him the last few times I've visited. And besides, it's Tony."

It was almost as if Nick didn't hear Katie, or he probably just didn't care, because he suddenly turned to the briefcase that was beside him. Honestly, Katie didn't even know there had been a briefcase standing there as she watched Fury pull out a file before sliding it across the table.

Katie took a sip of her drink as she glazed down at the file that was now in front of her. Her eyebrows started to pinch together as she placed down her glass and picked up the file.

"Avengers Initiative?" She read the front of the file, looking up at Nick for a brief moment.

"It's an idea," Nick explained, almost as if he just came up with this _idea _right there on the spot_._ "To bring together a group of the most remarkable people. People who could be something more. People, who can work together when we need them and fight the battles that S.H.I.E.L.D. can't."

As Nick explained this, Katie looked though the different pages of information that were in the file. The first few pages was information about what Nick basically just said. However, it was the last couple of pages that Katie stopped on to really look at.

The list of the Avengers.

Katie didn't even read the full pages, she just looked at each name that was on the list.

Natalia "Natasha" Romanoff, Black Widow.

Clinton Barton, Hawkeye.

Anthony Stark, Iron Man.

Bruce Banner, the Hulk.

Thor Odinson.

Steven Rogers, Captain America.

Katherine Rogers.

Katie knew the names, some more than other. She knew Tony. It's been years since she last saw him, but she knew him. Clint and Natasha she knew because she trained with both a while back, and they were good friends of hers. Natasha actually taught her how to really fight _well_. Thor she knew of, but she never met him. She did, however, hear all about New Mexico because of Phil and the news. She always knew of Bruce Banner, but never met him before.

And Steve Rogers. Her father, obviously she knew about him. She knew everything about him, more than anyone really. Well, besides her mother. Also, Phil was a pretty big fangirl and never really shut up about him.

"So," Katie finally spoke up, glancing up at Nick. "I don't get a nickname?"

"Ms Rogers."

"Fine," Katie sighed at Nick's warning, leaning back in her chair. "But, it's basically a group of superheroes?"

"More or less."

"Why am I in here?" Katie cut right to the chase, closing the file. "I'm not a superhero. I haven't done anything remarkable with my life."

"To be honest," Nick grabbed the file and placed it back in the case. "You weren't on there until a few days ago."

"Then why add me?"

"You, Katherine, are one of the only two people on Earth who can be considered super-humans." Nick explained. "You and your father. You two are the only ones with the super-solider blood running in your veins."

"Yeah, sure, I'm perfect." Katie leaned forward in her chair. "But, the most remarkable thing about me is that I was born in the 40's and can pass as a twenty-five year old."

"You're strong." Nick also leaned forward. "And fast. You're a fighter. Remember, I know mostly everything, Katherine. You've trained with a number of people, including Ms Romanoff, and I know your mother taught you how to shot a gun."

"Okay, yeah. I grew up at S.H.I.E.L.D. and now how to fight," Katie sighed, running a hand through her hair. "But, I mean, Tony has his suit, Banner turns green, Thor is a god, while Natasha and Clint are master assassins. Compared to them, I'm nothing."

Nick sat back in his chair, a slightly smug look on his face.

"What about your father?"

"Sorry?"

"You didn't mention your father, Captain America." Nick explained, and continued on when Katie remained silent. "And you know why. Because he's just like you, and you know it. You both didn't make a suit or are gods Katherine, but you are both remarkable people. You both have that blood in you, you were both born to be fighters."

"You're wrong," Katie said softly, shaking her head as she took a sip of her drink. "He was made to be a fighter. I was made by mistake."

Silence fell around the room for a few moments after Katie said these words.

She didn't normally get like this. She didn't even think of herself as a mistake. Sometimes. Though, really, she knew she was one. But, after everything that had happened today, she was starting to feel... weak. She didn't know what to do, what to say, or what to think anymore.

"Talk to your father." Nick said suddenly, causing Katie to look up at him with a raised eyebrow.

"You want me to talk to him so he'll join your secret group." It wasn't a question, more so a statement.

"No," Nick shook his head. "I want you to talk to him for your sake." He told her before standing up, Katie following his lead. "However, I know the Avengers could really use the _both_ of you."

"Sense a world threat coming, Nick." Katie joked as they both walked to the front door.

"What I sense, is that you've been alone for so long, you're scared to let anyone, even your father, into your life."

Katie snorted, crossing her arms. "Says the guy with more trust issues than someone suffering from the Truman Show disorder."

"I have my reasons."

"And so do I."

"I'll be calling you tomorrow to let you know when you'll be talking to your father." Nick told her, turning to Katie just as they reached the door.

"Do I not have a say it this?"

"You do, I just hope you pick the right thing to do." Nick told her. "Now, I think you have a lot to think about so I'll leave you to it."

Katie rolled her eyes as Nick turned to the door. She spun around and walked back into the apartment as she called, "Goodnight, Nick" over her shoulder.

"And Katherine," Nick spoke up, causing Katie to turn around. "You may think you're a mistake, but I'll let you know you are far from it."

And with that, Nick was gone.

Katie let out a frustrating sigh as she grabbed her hair in her hands. Her mind was working overtime with everything that had happened today that she didn't even want to think about anything. She just wanted her mind to shut off.

But sadly, it wouldn't.

The big question from today was if she was going to talk to her father. A big part of her wanted to. This was her dad, someone who she wanted to meet her whole life. And she knew she told her mother she would, but she was still on the fence about it.

But the other part didn't want to get hurt anymore. Everyone said he wasn't going to leave her, but how did they know that? Besides, what if he decided that he didn't want a kid, that he didn't want anything to do with her. That would hurt more than him getting killed or dying.

Still, Katie thought of her mother and how much she didn't want Katie to be alone when she was finally gone. And she thought of Nick, who said he wanted Katie to talk to her father for her own sake. And then she thought of Howard, and how much time he spent trying to find her father. And then she thought of herself, who looked up to her father so much growing up.

So, Katie just stood there, in the middle of her apartment. She didn't know how long she stood there, but she finally came to a conclusion. The only problem was, she didn't know if it was the right one yet.

Nick would be pleased at least.

Thinking of Nick brought back the memories of their talk. Of the Avengers.

The Avengers, a group of superheroes fighting the threats that no one else could deal with.

Did she want to do that? Did she want to fight threats? Yes, she'd been training her whole life and was a really good fighter. And yes, she could shoot a gun like no one else - Peggy Carter had been her trainer and mother after all - but did that mean she wanted to fight supervillians and protect the world?

This was too much for one night.

Calling it quits, Katie walked up to the front door and locked it before turning back around and started to head towards the hall and her bedroom. Then, something caught her eye.

Glancing over at the island as she started to turn off the lights, Katie saw Nick's forgotten drink sitting there.

Sighing, she walked over and grabbed the drink. She took a big sip before turning off the lights and heading to bed, her mind still reeling.

* * *

><p><strong>Please note, this chapter along with the last one have now been edited by <em>Tospringe<em>. Also, because Mondays aren't working for me like I thought they would be, I'm changing the update day to Wednesday. So, chapter 3 will be coming your way this coming Wednesday.**

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>(Both links are in my profile)<strong>

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	4. Dirt

_Dirt - Florida Georgia Line._

_"The family is one of nature's masterpieces." - George Santayana._

* * *

><p>"We're glad you decided to come."<p>

Katie shot Phil a look, eyebrows pinched together slightly. "Yes well, after being with S.H.I.E.L.D all my life, I've learned the only way to shut them up is to either punch them in the face, or give in."

Phil shifted and lowered his eyes, looking away from the young - well, physically young - woman in front of him, obviously uncomfortable by her hard tone.

"I ah," Phil cleared his throat. "Fury's in there now talking to him, explaining the situation so you don't really have to."

Katie nodded, but didn't say anything. She knew this, Fury had told her he would explain who she was to her father and tell him the basics on what had happened, but still, she knew it wasn't going to be enough. He would ask her about everything.

Katie ran a hand through her hair to try to stop her mind from wandering, but it wasn't really working.

She was tired, her little chat with Nick having only happened last night causing her mind to refuse to shut up and let her sleep. So Katie was beyond tired and on edge.

She'd thought, when Nick had said he would call and let her know when she was talking to Steve, it would be a week from now. But _no._ Nick called early in the morning and said the car was going to pick her up in a few hours.

If she'd known that, she would have tried to get more sleep, though she knew it would have been pointless.

Katie wasn't planning on calling Nick anyways. She wasn't going to tell him what she'd decided on doing, because then it would just make everything more real. But, she forgot Nick knew _most things_, so she wasn't all that surprised when she'd gotten a phone call from him asking what she'd decided to do.

And she could basically hear the smugness in his voice after she'd told him she would talk to Steve.

Damn Nick.

Now, here she was. Her and Phil, standing in the hallway outside a sitting room area, waiting for Nick to come out.

She didn't mind waiting with Phil though. He was one of the few S.H.I.E.L.D. agents she could stand. He was nice to her and actually talked to her like she was a normal person. Plus, Katie found it hilarious how nervous Phil was when they'd first met, because he was getting to met Captain America's daughter.

She also liked to bug him from time to time about his fangirl side when it came to her father.

"Ms. Rogers?"

"Carter," Katie corrected Phil automatically causing Phil to nod, rubbing the back of his neck.

She didn't blame him for being nervous, Katie knew she was a nightmare to deal with right now. Unfortunately for him, she couldn't help it. As she'd said. she was beyond nervous and tired.

"Ms. Carter," Phil corrected himself. "He's ready for you."

Katie gave a shift nod before turning towards the door, staring at it for a few moments before slowly walking towards it, blocking her thoughts so she couldn't talk herself out of this.

However, just as she lifted her hand to turn the door knob, the door pushed open, showing Nick standing in front of her, an unreadable look on his face as always.

"Ms. Rogers," Nick nodded at her, causing Katie to roll her eyes before looking up at him with slightly narrowed eyes.

"Sticking with the Ms Rogers, are we? Not even going to bother with Carter anymore?"

"He took it better than expected," Nick continued on, ignoring Katie. "Though he is pretty baffled, as any normal person would be."

Katie snorted. "Normal person."

"He has questions," Nick narrowed his brows at the blonde woman.

"That's why I'm here, isn't it?" Katie titled her head to the side. "To answer his questions."

"You're here to talk to him, Katie." Phil answered from behind Katie, but she didn't turn around.

"Go easier on him, Katherine," Nick sighed, walking around Katie. "You both may be super-humans, but he's been on ice for 70 years. He hasn't gone through the… changes of time, that you have."

"You say this as if I don't know that, Nick," Katie smirked, but it didn't reach her eyes, as Nick and Phil made their way back down the hall and Katie turned back towards the door.

"Oh, and Ms. Rogers," Nick called, causing Katie to spin around, giving him a slight glare. "I know you've been a part of S.H.I.E.L.D. since the beginning, but don't forget who's the Director around here." Nick informed her, giving her a stern look.

"How can I when you keep reminding me, _Director._" Katie shot him a smug look back. As she turned back to the door, she heard Phil give a light laugh before going quiet, more than likely because of Nick's glaring.

After hearing Nick's and Phil's footsteps disappear down the hall, Katie took a deep breath before placing her hand on the doorknob and pushing the door open.

_Here goes nothing._

The door opened to show a small room. The whites painted a light blue color while the wall on Katie's right was made out of glass. There was a leather, black love seat sitting on the far end of the room - facing the door and Katie - and two matching leather chairs across from it, with a small table standing in the middle.

Katie's eyes missed all this, however, and went straight to the man sitting in one of the chairs. He was bent over slightly with his head in his hands, looking like he didn't hear her come in.

Katie was trying to figure out if it would be easier to just back out now and walk away, lord knows she didn't want to have this conversation. However, before she could even blink, Steve's head snapped up, like he sensed her in the room, which he probably did.

They eyes meant within a few seconds, neither of them speaking. This wasn't Katie's first time seeing her father, but it was his first time seeing his daughter. And it was both their first times being in the same room together, and it would soon be their first time talking to each other.

And honestly, Katie felt more nervous and scared than she thought she would be.

Slowly, Steve stood up, his eyes never leaving his daughter's, who was still standing still in the doorway.

They both stood there, in silence, and Katie took this time to really get a look at Captain America… at her father.

Growing up, everyone had told her she looked just like her mother, which was true. She had her mother's ears, mouth, wavy hair, even her strong personality. However, everyone always told her she had her father's eyes, and even though she'd seen pictures before, only now she realized how very true it was.

As she looked him over, Katie started picking out the differences and similarities between father and daughter. Besides the baby-blue eyes, Katie also got her blonde hair from him, though it held her mother's waves. She also had his nose, she realized. So far, those were the only outward similarities she could find. Though, their shared DNA did give them a similar build. While Steve stood at 6'2, Katie was 5'5, but they were both well-built - Katie not as much as her father - there again, how could they not be.

They were super-humans. They were "perfect".

Katie didn't know how long they stood like that, just staring at each other. She wished she could read her father's mind, just to see what he was thinking, she felt like it would make this all easier. Unfortunately, she couldn't.

"Ahh, hi."

Katie almost jumped at the sound of his voice. She didn't expect him to speak first.

Then again, she really couldn't have any idea who would.

"Hi." Katie replied, stepping into the room and slowly closing the door behind her.

"Katherine, right?" Steve asked, his voice soft and steady, as he continued to look at her. It was like he was trying to memorize every detail about her.

Though he didn't seem it, Katie could tell he was nervous. Almost just as nervous as she was. But, Katie could hide her emotions after all those years, and she was good at reading people.

Katie did, however, raise an eyebrow. "Katherine?"

"Umm, yeah," Steve shift his eyes from her face, thinking he said the wrong thing. "Nick said your name was Katherine…"

Katie gave a light laugh, rolling her eyes as she stepped farther into the room, noting how Steve relaxed a bit.

"It is," Katie informed him. "My name, that is. It is Katherine, but Nick is the only one who is calls me that." Katie continued to step forward until she was only a few feet away from her father, her nerves going crazy, but she hid it and stuck her hand out. "Call me Katie."

"Katie," Steve said, like he was testing the name, shaking her hand. "My daughter."

Katie knew he didn't mean anything by it, and by the softest at which he said it, she knew he was still trying to believe those words. But she couldn't help the smile on her face from falling a bit as she took back her hand.

It didn't upset her that he called her his daughter, the opposite actually because she suddenly felt warm inside. It's just, when he said it, it reminded her why she was so nervous in the first place.

"And you're my father."

"Steve," He smiled a little at her. "You can call me Steve."

"Steve," Katie repeated, glad he gave her the opportunity to call him by his name. She wasn't ready to call him 'dad' just yet. Plus, it would be kind of weird at the moment if she did, seeing that they could both pass for the same age and they didn't even know each other.

"Umm," Steve cleared his throat before pointing to the seats. "Let's sit."

Katie nodded in agreement, taken back slightly by the gentlemen-like attention. She quickly remembered that he was from the forties though. Looked like the stereotypes held some truth.

Steve sat back down on the love seat, his hands folded on his lap, as Katie sat in one of the chairs across from him, her finger tapping slightly on her leg, silence falling around them once more.

Katie had never been a patient person, it was one of the personality traits she didn't get from her mother or father, more like one that was developed over the years. Which was odd, because you'd think that the older you got, the more patient you became.

Bullshit.

Taking a deep breath, Katie took one last look around the room before her eyes finally fell on her father… no, _Steve, _once more. She found him staring at her, but the moment their eyes met, his eyes shifted and he rubbed the back on his neck.

"Umm," Katie cleared her throat slightly. "Nick said you had some questions…"

"Yeah," Steve nodded his head. "If… If you don't mind?"

Katie shook her head, a small smile on her face as she crossed her legs, relaxing a bit as she sat back against the chair.

She didn't want to answer any question, to be honest. But, what was she to do? Say no, I don't want to answer your questions, and leave? She couldn't do that. She was here for a reason.

She may be keeping Steve at an arm's length away, keeping him far enough away so they didn't get to close, but she wasn't heartless. Far from it.

And she didn't blame him for having questions. His daughter, who was born back in 1946, a daughter he didn't even know about, was now sitting in front of him. Looking no older than twenty-five when she was said to be sixty-five.

If he had questions, she was going to answer them.

Besides, she'd be lying if she said she wasn't excited to finally talk to her father.

Katie watched him, she could basically see the wheels turning in his head as he tried to decided what to ask her first.

"Ummm," Steven cleared his throat. "Nick said you are, like me…"

"Actually, many people say I'm like my mother," Katie joked out of habit - it's what she did some times when she got really nervous - causing Steve to raise an eyebrow. "Sorry. Bad joke. I grew up with Uncle Howard, so don't blame me."

"Uncle Howard?" Steve repeated, shock taking over his face a bit.

"Yeah," Katie nodded. "After mum found out she was pregnant with me, Uncle Howard stepped up and helped out anyway he could." She informed him, leaving out the part how Howard was like a father figure to her growing up. She couldn't tell him that. She could just picture the heartbreak that would take over his face.

Steve nodded, before speaking softly. "I'm glad you both weren't alone."

"We were far from it." Katie smiled, remembering everyone who helped out her and her mother, everyone she thought of as family. "There were a number of people who helped us." Katie paused for a moment, a faraway look in her eyes before she shook her head, turning back to Steve. "Anyways, yes to your question. I am like you."

"As in the serum affected you too." Steve stated and Katie nodded.

"Caused mum a lot of trouble, I did." Katie laughed lightly.

"You did?" Steve also smiled.

"Oh, yeah." Katie nodded at Steve. "When I was about three, I found out that I could run faster than anyone, adult or child. For weeks I would just run around, running from anyone who was trying to catch me. Of course, no one could." Katie laughed. "I thought it was the funniest thing in the world. Mum, however, didn't."

As Steve laughed lightly at the story, Katie realized just how relaxed she felt around him. Even though this was their first time meeting each other, it felt natural to sit and talk to her father.

And this scared the crap out of her.

"So," Steve started to ask, and Katie realized he was also much more relaxed then he was when she first walked into the room. "You knew from a young age."

"I knew I was different," Katie confirmed. "It wasn't until I was older when I found out what caused me to be so."

Steve nodded, and Katie saw him hesitate. Like he was debating on if he should ask her his next question.

"Did…" Steve cleared his throat after a few moments. "Did you know…"

Katie realized what he was trying to ask, so she nodded, letting him know she understood.

"Ever since I could remember, mum was telling me stories about you," Katie told him, looking down at her hands for a moment before looking back up. "She told me everything she knew about you, and showed me pictures. Both pre and post serum. I'm sure she told me every story about you at least a dozen times." Katie laughed. "But I never got tired of hearing them. And when I was about twelve, when I first really started asking questions, she sat down with me and told me everything about the serum and how I was just like you."

Katie fell silent for a moment, almost as if she was done talking. Steve opened his mouth to ask or say something else, but she stopped him by speaking again.

"I looked up to you." Katie said quickly, the words just spilling out before she could stop them. "Growing up, you were my hero. And when I found out I was just like you, I was beyond excited. For my eight birthday, Uncle Howard even made me a shield just like yours. I don't know where it is now, but I loved it." Katie laughed to herself. "Mum said I had everyone wrapped around my finger."

"You did?" Steve leaned forward, waiting her to continue.

Katie nodded. "We lived at S.H.I.E.L.D, and I was the only kid. I had to stay hidden. No one besides the people at S.H.I.E.L.D knew of me. And that's the way everyone wanted it." Katie paused for a moment, before laughing. "I remember when I was thirteen, I argued with mum to let me go by Rogers cause I looked up to you so much and wanted your last name."

"You don't go by Rogers?"

Katie looked up, realizing what she said and cursed herself for dropping her guard so much. The look on her father's face broke her heart, so she quickly corrected herself.

"No, I couldn't growing up. If the wrong person, or anyone really, found out that I was Captain Americas daughter, that I had his... your blood in my veins, I would be hunted down. So, Mum came up with the story that I was the product of a one-night stand, something that happened after you umm, went down. This was just a cover up, so I grew up going by Carter, and I just kept it."

Steve nodded, a sad look of understanding taking over his face.

Silence fell around the room, and Katie watched Steve closely for a moment. She could still see his mind reeling and she knew he had at least one big question on his mind wanting to ask her.

"What is it?" Katie asked after a few moments

"Nothing," Steve replied quickly, but sighed when he saw the look on Katie's face. "Just, you don't look a day over twenty-five…"

"Physically, I'm not. It's one of the side effects of the serum, I guess." Katie shrugged slightly. "I aged normally until the age of twenty-one, when my body stopped aging. But, I was still a "super-human" growing up. Uncle Howard thought that because I stopped growing at the age of twenty-one, my body slowed down the aging process. But, unfortunately, none of Dr. Erskine notes say anything about the aging process. Mum says she thinks it's one of the side-effects he didn't expect."

Steve nodded, hesitating slightly. "So you are really…"

"I was born May 4th, 1946." Katie told him with a small smile. "Technically, I'm sixty-five. I stopped visibly aging in 1967. But, you're right, physically I look twenty-five. Uncle Howard figured my life span is about ten times longer than a normal humans."

"So, do you know if my life span is the same?"

"Honestly, I have no idea." Katie told him. "But I wouldn't see why not."

Steve nodded before turning away, looking out the big window on his left, the window that took up the whole wall. They were up pretty high, but not too high. You could still see the streets below and even hear noise in the district backgrounds.

Katie watched as Steve's eyebrows slowed pinched together and he started to tap his index finger on his leg.

"What are you thinking?" Katie asked softly, Steve turned slowly turn in her direction as his finger came to a stop.

"How do you-"

"I do the same thing," Katie pointed out with a soft smile. "When I'm thinking about something. I tap my finger too."

Steve looked down at his now still finger before glancing up at Katie, his blue-eyes watching her for a moment before turning back to the window.

"When I went under, the world was at war." Steve started, still looking out the window. "I grew up in a world where cars where big, clunky pieces of metal, most people slept on beds hard as rock and getting the flu could very well kill you. And now, we've won the war, and everything is new and different to me." Steve sighed, running a hand through his hair. "I can't even sleep at night, the beds are far too soft. I feel like I'm going to sink to the floor."

Katie remained silent as she continued to watch Steve, taking in everything he just said. She didn't say anything because she could tell by the look on his face that he wasn't finished, that he had more to say.

"Your mother." Steve said suddenly, causing Katie's eyes to go wide at the sudden change in topic. "Peggy. Is she…"

"Yes," Katie nodded, looking down at her lap. "Yes, she is still alive. But," Katie sighed, looking back up at Steve. "That's… Let's save that for another day."

Steve's eye shifted down, but he nodded.

Katie knew he wanted to hear about Peggy, but he would just have to deal with that for now. Katie really wasn't in the mood to explain everything about her mother to him right now.

Silence fall upon the room for a few moments, both father and daughter looking anywhere but each other, until Steve finally spoke.

"I… I went under in 1945 and woke up here, in 2012." Steve said before looking up at Katie. "But you, you've seen all the changes. You grew up with them. Lived with them." Steve pointed out, shaking his head. "And I… I honestly can't tell which is worse."

Katie titled her head to the side, eyebrows pinched together slightly. "I don't understand…"

"Katie," Steve spoke, sending shivers down Katie's spine. That was the first time he said he name since they met. "I see the look on your face every time you've talk about the past, or someone you've grew up with."

Katie shifted her eyes so she was looking out the window. She knew what Steve was getting at. The topic she didn't want to bring up at all.

"What happened to him?"

Steve's soft voice caused Katie to turn towards him, only to be met be his concerned eyes.

Katie sighed. She knew what he was asking about, and she really didn't want to talk about it. But, she also couldn't stop the words from leaving her mouth.

"He…" Katie cleared her throat. "Uncle Howard, he… It was a car crash. Him and his wife Maria were killed, leaving behind their son. No one, they couldn't find the cause of the accident. They left their son-"

"Tony," Steve nodded, cutting off Katie. "Fury told me about him, but all he said was he was Howard's son."

Katie nodded. "Howard, he helped me a lot growing up. He was always there for me, especially when I first… when I first found out about you. And I… I couldn't repay the favor and be there for his son after he…"

Katie stopped, she could feel the bubble in her throat.

She didn't want to be on this topic. She didn't want to talk about all that pain she felt over the years.

"It, it must be hard." Steve spoke softly. "I can't imagine-"

"Yeah, it is." Katie nodded, a sad look on her face.

Then, it suddenly hit her. The reason she didn't want to get to close to her father in the fast place. All the pain she felt over the years suddenly came flooding back to her, hitting her in the heart like a bullet.

She couldn't do this anymore.

"I ah," Katie said, suddenly standing up with Steve following her lead, a surprised look on his face. "Should get going, it's getting late."

"Oh, of course." Steve nodded, but Katie could still see the upset look on his face, and it caused the pain to hurt even more.

Katie nodded at the wall, she couldn't even look at Steve right now. Quickly, she turned around and walked to the door, Steve following her for a few steps before stopping, keeping his distance.

With her hand on the doorknob, Katie turned around slightly, glancing up at Steve once more before looking anywhere but him.

"I'll.. I'll call you. Sometime. And we… we can…"

"Do this again?" Steve asked, a hopeful look in his eyes. But, Katie saw the hopefulness leave his eyes as she nodded her head a bit too quickly and answered.

"Yeah."

Without another word, Katie turned the doorknob and walked out of the room, closing the door behind her.

She took a few steps away from the door before she came to a stop, walking over to the wall and leaned against it. Tears prickling in her eyes as her hand flew to her mouth.

She didn't want to cry. Katie never cried. But, she couldn't help it. All the emotions she'd felt today came back to her at once and it was too much. From the excitement of meeting her father, to the pain of losing her uncle all over again…

She couldn't deal with it.

Katie didn't know how long she stood there, but finally, the tears stopped and she was able to wipe her eyes.

She kicked off the wall and quickly made her way down the hallway. She knew her eyes were a bit red, but she didn't care. She kept an unreadable look on her face as she turned the corner, continuing down the hall.

However, she didn't even make it halfway before she heard her name being called.

"Seriously, Phil." Katie sighed, angry, upset, confused and exhausted as Phil caught up with her, Katie shooting him a glare. "I want to be alone."

"Just," Phil stepped in front of Katie, causing her to stop in her tracks. "Let me take you home. Its late."

Phil knew, Katie could tell. He knew by her red eyes and the look on her face that she was upset and just emotionally exhausted. She didn't even have the energy to argue with the agent in front of her at this point.

Nodding her head, Katie let Phil led her down to one of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s many cars, before jumping in and watching the world passed by around her as Phil drove her to her apartment, in silence.

She only lived, at the moment, about twenty minutes away of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s home base. And before long, the car was parked on the side on the road and Phil and Katie were walking up to the door of the apartment building.

"Taking tips from Captain America are we," Katie joked dryly as the elevator singled for her floor and the two stepped out. "You didn't have to walk me to the door, you know."

"Actually-"

"Unless you had a question," Katie pointed out, stopping at her door and turning around to face Phil, arms crossed. "Come on, I'm tired. Out with it."

"It's just… I know you have your own _reasons_ for acting the way you do…"

"What's that suppose to mean?"

"But, I figured you'd be happy to have someone else in your life. At least someone you could relate to…"

Katie stood there, watching Phil for a moment, before turning around and unlocking her apartment door, stepping in with Phil behind her.

"Okay. One, that's not a question, more so a statement." Katie pointed out, dropping her keys on the island as she walked into the kitchen, getting ready to pour herself a drink as Phil stood next to the counter. "And two, if it was a question, I'd answer by saying it's none of your business."

"Katie."

The way Phil sound her name caused Katie to stop from pouring her drink and slowly look up, only to see Phil's concerned face watching her. The face of a worried friend.

Sighing, Katie picked up her drink and took a long sip before looking up at Phil again.

"Over the years," Katie informed him. "I've learned that it's easier to not get close to people. It hurts less that way when they leave you."

"How do you know he's-"

"He went down on a plane in 1945 and woke up in 2012," Katie cut off Phil. "He basically went to sleep one night without a daughter, and woke up the next morning with one." Katie walked out of the kitchen and sat in the living, Phil following her. "He has no reason to want anything to do with me. Hell, he may even leave when he realizes having a daughter is more trouble than it's worth."

"I don't think he's like that, Katie." Phil said in a soft voice. "I think, you need to open up a bit more and see just what he's really like before you judge him like that. Before you decided if he's going to leave or not."

Sighing, Katie placed her drink on the coffee table before leaning forward, elbows resting on her knees, before she looked up at Phil.

"I talked to him today-"

"But you didn't _really_ talk to him, did you?" Phil pointed out. "Like I said, you need to open up it really know him." Phil told her, and held up his hand to silence her when Katie opened her mouth to speak. "I know. He's your father. But, Katie, you only just met him. All I'm saying is, try to get to know him a bit better before making your judgement."

Katie stared at her glass on the coffee table, as she thought over what Phil said. But, she was too emotionally exhausted to have made a straight thought right now.

"Phil, thank-you." She finally said after a moment of silence.

"For what?"

"For being my friend," She replied, finally looking up at him. "It's hard to find those these days. But, people leave Phil. That's just the way it is."

Phil sighed. He knew there was no getting through to her, not this time at least. She was to tired and exhausted.

"You should get back now." Katie said softly as she stood up, walking over to the door and holding it opened to Phil, who slowly followed behind her.

"Katie." Phil stopped at the door, turning to the blonde women who looked up at Phil. "Just know, no one is leaving you anytime soon. Most definitely not your father."

A small smirk started to pull at Katie's lips. "You sound so sure, Phil."

"Cause I am." Phil gave her a small smile. "No one is leaving you, Katie. I promise."

* * *

><p><strong>Big big thank you going out to <em>Tospringe<em> for editing this chapter for me, you're the best!**

**For those of you who don't know, I've moved the update date from Monday to Wednesday, because Monday's weren't working for me like I thought they would be.**

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	5. Invisible

_Invisible - Hunter Hayes._

_"A happy family is but an earlier heaven." - George Bernard Shaw._

* * *

><p>"<em>Captain," Fury sighed. This was the first time since Steve met Fury that he actually looked troubled. "There's something you need to know."<em>

_Steve watched the Director with a confused look. He'd 'woken up' about a month ago now and Steve spent the first half of that month getting to know this strange and different world as well as catching up anything that happened since he went down._

_Fury also gave him a few files of people Steve knew - Peggy, Howard, Phillips, the Howling Commandos - so he could 'catch up', as Fury had put it._

_Basically, it was so Steve could find out who was dead and who was still alive._

_To find out now that there was still more for him to know, that there was something Fury still had to tell him, it was confusing._

_He didn't fully trust Nick Fury yet, but he figured the man would tell him everything he needed to know._

"_You were supposed to found out about this earlier, when you first woke up," Fury continued. "But, complications arose and, well, I'm telling you about this now."_

"_Sir?" Steve spoke up when he saw Fury hesitate for a split moment._

"_You were supposed to meet her earlier-"_

"_Her?" Steve questioned, but stopped talking when Fury shot him a look for cutting him off._

"_She's like you, Cap." Fury told him. "The difference is, she hasn't been on ice for seventy years."_

"_Like me?" Steve's eyebrows pinched together, his mind working overtime to figure out what the hell Nick Fury was talking about. Who was this 'her'? _

"_She's going to come in here in a few moments to explain everything to you," Fury informed him. "But, just know that, yes. She is like you in the sense that she has super-solider serum in her veins."_

_Now Steve was beyond confused. How the hell did someone else have the super-solider serum present in their DNA? As far as he knew - and had everyone told him this, even Dr. Erskine - he was the only one who took the serum._

_Then, Steve realized what Fury just said. She was coming by in a few minutes to answer his questions. Why? Who was the woman and why would she come to answer his questions? Yes, he wanted to find out how she was like him, but that was really the only question that mattered to him at the moment._

"_Well," Fury spoke up, dragging Steve out of his confused thoughts. "She has a lot more of you running in her veins then just the serum."_

"_Sir?" Steve questioned again, confusion now written all over his face._

"_Cap," Fury leaned forward, resting his arms on his elbows. "Did you and Ms Carter ever spend some, quality time together?"_

_Steve felt the blush start to climb up his neck and rise on his cheeks as his eyes shifted down for a moment before looking back up at Fury, who had a serious look on his face._

_Steve had no idea why he was asking him these questions, but he was more confused than ever now. Besides, he grew up in the 40's, he wasn't used to people asking him these questions._

"_Sir, why does that matter?" Steve questioned instead of giving Fury a direct answer, through he had a feeling Fury knew the answer anyways._

_The Director sighed, before sitting back in his chair and looking Steve dead in the eyes to let him know he was serious._

"_You have a daughter, Cap."_

_Three weeks later (Present Day)._

Steve woke up with a start, these five little words echoing around in his head as his eyes snapped opened. It took him a moment to realize exactly where he was. But the dark walls around him that were lit up by the early morning sky shining through the window and the familiar furniture brought him back to the present day.

He was in his apartment. The one S.H.I.E.L.D. had given him.

Running a tired hand over his face, Steve sat up in the bed. His muscles and bones popped in and out of place as he stretched. Looking over at the clock on the bedside table, it told him it was just after four in the morning. Great.

This wasn't a surprise. Steve had gotten used to not being able to sleep at night. It's been the same thing for the past for weeks, going to sleep late and waking before daybreak.

Swinging his legs over the side of the bed, Steve slowly stood up. He pushed off the bed before making his way out into the kitchen to get himself a cup of coffee and something to eat.

When he first woke up in 2012, Steve couldn't go to sleep without dreaming about the plane going down and leaving Peggy behind. He always woke up to the last words Peggy had said to him echoing around in his head.

Now, it was a mix of the plane going down and that day Fury telling him he had a daughter.

He had a daughter. The word still seemed foreign to him. He never in his life had dreamed he would have a daughter. Or any kid for that matter. Growing up, no one would even dance with the small, skinny kid for Brooklyn. Then, after the serum and after Bucky died, Steve didn't even know if he was going to live long enough to even think about kids. He had to take down HYDRA. Even if it meant killing himself in the process.

Of course, he'd never meant to have a kid, far from it.

That night he sat in that burnt down old bar, the night he wanted to get drunk so badly but failed. The night he was so messed up over Bucky dying. The night Peggy came to talk to him. That's when it happened. Steve would never forget it. And, he didn't mean for it to happen. It just, did.

And now, to know he had his own daughter... He still couldn't believe it.

And she was more beautiful than he could've imagined.

As Steve took some eggs out of the fridge, he thought back to the day Fury told him he had a daughter, which was also the day he met her.

Katherine Stephanie Rogers.

When she first walked into the room, for a spilt moment, Steve thought it could have been Peggy in a blonde wig.

But, as she walked closer and Steve actually looked at her, he realized how much like him she actually was. Yes, she had her mother's face, but she had his nose and eyes, plus his blond hair. He also realized Fury had been right when he'd said she was like him, had the serum in her DNA. He could tell by how fit and healthy she looked.

As they sat and talked, Steve couldn't help but realize how guarded she really was.

Sure, she laughed and joked and smiled. But to Steve, it looked like a big act. Like she was on her guard.

Still, he loved hearing the stories about how she grew up - even if they were only one or two - and he was interested in hearing just how much like him she really was. Because, while Steve was the only person to be turned into a super-solider, she was the only person born to be a super-solider.

The more they talked, the more Steve noticed how much she really was hiding. He realized this first because of the fact that when she talked about Howard, her face would drop and a haunted look entered her eyes.

It wasn't until then that he realized how hard of a life Katie really did have.

Steve may have been frozen of seventy years and be out of his time, but Katie had to live with the times. She had to deal with everyone growing old while she stayed young. She had to watch everyone around her die while she was left alone in the world.

And yes, Steve'd found out that everyone he loved and cared about were gone when he woke up, and it pained him so much. But, to stand back and watch the people you love leave and not be able to do anything about it…

With breakfast and coffee made, Steve walked over to his small kitchen table, placing his food and drink in front of him as he sat down, his eyes shifting to the phone.

Steve knew he shouldn't have brought up the topic of how hard her life must have been. But for some reason, he hadn't been able to stop himself.

Yes, he was her father. But he'd also only just met the girl. It wasn't his place to ask her about it, and she probably didn't want to talk about it at the time. Actually, Steve knew she didn't want to talk about it by the way she walked out on him, her last words still rang in his head from time to time.

"_I'll.. I'll call you. Sometime. And we… we can…"_

He knew then that he wouldn't be hearing from her for a few days at least. But, it had now been three weeks and he still hadn't heard anything.

He really screwed up.

However, when he mentioned it to Fury after about a week of hearing nothing, Fury had told him it wasn't his fault. That she just needed time because this was a big change for her too.

And Steve respected and understood that. But he still couldn't help his eyes from shifting to the phone now and then. And he still couldn't help but blame himself, even just a bit.

Maybe, if he'd never brought up how hard her life must have been, maybe if he'd kept his mouth shut, she'd still be talking to him now. They could have been starting to get to know each other and maybe even be on their way to trust each other. Maybe, they would be a few steps closer to being father and daughter.

But now, instead of taking a few steps forward, Steve felt like he'd ended up taking a dozen steps back. If that was possible.

He just wanted to know his daughter. That's all.

The one person left on this Earth who was like him and who was his flesh and blood, wouldn't talk to him. Great.

Well, the one person besides Peggy.

Steve knew Peggy was still alive. The files Fury handed him proved that to him, along with Katie telling him. He even knew her phone number and address. But, he couldn't bring himself to go see her. He couldn't walk in there and tell Peggy he'd messed everything up with Katie, or at least he thought he did. And he knew Peggy would ask if he'd met her yet, and Steve couldn't lie to her. Not about that.

Not being able to take it anymore - all the emotions and thoughts were giving him a headache - Steve left his breakfast and coffee on the table, basically untouched, as he got up and went to change into his gym clothes.

He needed to get his head straight, and as he walked out of the apartment and locked up, Steve knew the only way to do that was at the gym.

* * *

><p>Steve's punches hit the bag with as much force as he could, his mind wandering. The gym was empty - it wasn't even five in the morning - so Steve had the whole place to himself. However, instead of getting his head straight like he'd hoped, with every hit and punch he made, a new memory or image flashed before him.<p>

Shots being fired and running through the woods with the Howling Commandos_._

Fighting with HYDRA.

"_There's not enough time."_ Steve heard his own words echoing off the walls as an image of the plane going down flashed before him. _"I have to put her in the water."_

The Tesseract.

The picture of Peggy he'd had in front of him when the plane went down as her voice echoed around him.

"_You won't be alone."_

"_Oh my God," _That was the first words Steve could remember hearing, faintly, as he suddenly started to feel very cold. _"The guy's still alive!"_

Anger and frustration started to boil up inside of Steve as a different set of images started to flash before him as he hit the punching bag more and more.

Peggy holding a baby in her names as she smiled down upon the sleeping form.

A little girl with long, blonde hair running as fast as she could while the Howling Commandos tried to catch her, her laugh ringing in the air.

"_What story would you like to hear tonight?" _Peggy asked softly to the little girl as she tucked her in at night.

Howard helping the blonde try on a shield that looked just like his.

"_You have a daughter, Cap." _Fury's words rang louder than before, as one final image of Katie flashed before him, looking like she did now. Then, he gave the bag on last punch and it went flying across the room, hitting the wall.

Steve stared at the bag that now laid on the floor, his breathing deep and hallow. The images started to come back, but he didn't want to think about them now. Instead, he walked over to the number of punching bags that were placed on the floor, picking one and hooking it up.

He came prepared.

However, just as Steve started punching the new bag, he heard footsteps come into the room followed by a deep voice.

"Trouble sleeping?"

Steve stopped pushing the bag long enough to look up and see Nick Fury standing just a few feet away from him.

"I slept for seventy years, sir." Steve said after he sighed and went back to punching the bag. "I think I had my fill."

"Then you should be out," Fury said as he slowly walked toward Steve. "Celebrating. Seeing the world."

Steve stopped for good this time as he glanced over at Fury for a moment before walking over towards his gym bag.

"I can't saw I want to see much of the world." Steve said as he took off the wraps. "Not after hearing about everything we've lost since the war ended." _Like the chance to watch your daughter grow up. Or to even just actually know her._

"We've made some mistakes alone the way. Some very recently."

Steve looked up at Fury as he zipped his bag up. There was an unreadable look on the Director's face, that Steve came to figure out was always there.

"You here with a mission, sir?"

Fury nodded. "I am."

"Trying to get me back in the world?"

"Trying to save it."

Steve give Fury a questioning look as Fury opened a file that was in his hands, passing it to Steve as he sat down on the branch, next to his bag.

On a piece of paper in front of him, was a picture that made Steve's insides boil.

"HYDRA's secret weapon."

"Howard Stark fished that out of the ocean when he was looking for you," Fury informed Steve. "He thought what we think, the Tesseract could be the key to unlimited sustainable energy. That's something the world sorely needs."

Steve took a deep breath through his nose as he closed up the file and handed it back to Fury. "Who took it from you?"

"His name is Loki," Fury said, taking the file. "He's… not from around here." Fury looked up at Steve. "There's a lot we'll have to bring you up to speed on if you're in. The world has gotten even stranger than you already know."

"At this point," Steve stood up, looking at Fury. "I doubt anything would surprise me."

"Ten bucks says you're wrong."

Steve almost snorted out loud as he reached for his bag. "I don't know, you already told me I have a daughter."

"That's another thing." Fury spoke up, causing Steve to turning around to look at Fury.

"What?"

"I asked Katherine to help you on this mission."

Steve froze, his eyes going slightly wide at Fury's words.

Fury asked Katie, his daughter, to going on a mission with him. The same Katie and daughter who hadn't - and wouldn't - talk to her father after meeting him three weeks ago. What was Fury thinking? Actually, what was Katie going to say? Or, what did had she already said? Did she want to work with her father, or did she turn the mission down before Fury even got to full sentence out?

Steve didn't even know Katie did missions. Then again, there was a lot of things Steve didn't know about his daughter. Things he wanted to know. If only she would just call him.

"I've asked a number of people actually," Fury explained when he realized Steve wasn't going to say anything. "Katherine being one of them."

"What did she say?" Steve asked, looking back at Fury with slightly pinched eyebrows.

He may hardly know his daughter, and he knew she was probably capable of handling herself, but he still didn't like the idea of her going on a dangerous mission.

It must be the protective father side of him. The side Steve didn't even know he had.

"She hasn't given me an answer yet." Fury pointed out. "She can be quite unreliable when it comes to getting back to someone."

At that comment, Steve did snort out loud. "I know."

"I know it's been a while, Cap," Fury said. "But she'll come around. I've known Katherine for a while now, and though she is very stubborn, she always comes though."

"She gets that from her mother," Steve smiled to himself, and he could have sworn he see the corners of Fury's lips start to turn up.

However, the smile soon fell and Steve sighed as he picked up his bag, turning toward Fury. "I know she's had a hard life, and I know I shouldn't push her and give her some time. I just… I just wish she'd open up a bit more to me."

"That's the thing, Captain. Katherine has a problem opening up to people. Just, show her you'll always be there, and she'll come around." Fury informed him.

Steve nodded before walking over and picking up one of the punching bags left on the floor.

"There's a debriefing package waiting for you back at your apartment." Fury called out after him as Steve started to walk away. "Is there anything you can tell us about the Tesseract that we ought to know now?"

"You should have left it in the ocean." Steve replied, walking out of the gym as he made a promise to himself.

He was going to show Katie he was going to be there for her. Always.

* * *

><p><strong>Thank you to <em>Tospringe <em>for helping me out and editing this chapter for me! And thank you to all you guys for reviewing and reading this story! So glad so many of you like it!**

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	6. Who I Am

_Who I Am - Chris Young._

_"In every conceivable manner, the family is link to our past, bridge to our future." - Alex Haley._

* * *

><p>"I need your answer now, Ms Rogers." Nick said calmly from the seat behind his desk. He glanced up at the blonde woman standing in front of him across the desk.<p>

"That's why you called me in?" Katie raised an eyebrow at him, arms crossed. "Couldn't you have just called and asked me?"

"Katherine," Nick narrowed his eyes at her. "I'm really not in the mood for your games today. What is your answer?"

Katie sighed before sitting back in one of the two chairs Nick had placed in front of his desk, crossing her legs. "Who else is on board with the program? Obviously Natasha."

Nick raised an eyebrow. "Obviously?"

"Clint is missing," Katie pointed out. "Natasha would drop everything to find him."

Nick nodded. "Yes, Agent Romanoff is on board. Dr. Banner is with us as well, Romanoff picked him up not too long ago. Coulson went to talk to Stark, but no one's really a hundred percent sure what he'll do. We have no way to talk to Thor. And of course, your father."

Katie gave a stiff nod as her eyes shifted to look out the window behind Nick, at the busy streets of D.C..

Yes, her father. The same father who she still had yet to call. The father she'd left in a sitting room about three weeks ago and hadn't talked to since. Yes, _that_ father.

She couldn't do it. No matter how many talks she had with her mother or Phil, no matter how many times Nick tried to sit them down in a room together, she couldn't do it. She even tried to call him herself once or twice, with no luck.

She always stopped herself.

Because it was just as Phil said, _"I think, you need to open up a bit more…"_

But she'd tried. Oh, she'd tried to talk to him again, never succeeding. Almost like her mind and body where two different people. She was hurt so much over the years that her heart refused to open up to anyone again. Especially, for some reason, to her father.

And it took Katie a while to realize way she couldn't open up to Steve. She thought it was all because she was afraid of him leaving. But soon, she realized that was only part of the reason. It was because she looked up to her father so much. She was scared of disappointing him.

She never had to worry about disappointing anyone growing up. She was the only kid at S.H.I.E.L.D. for the most part. She didn't have anyone to be compared to.

But now, Katie was grown up. She wasn't a little kid anymore. And what if she wasn't what her father wanted? What if she wasn't what he thought his kid would be like? What if she was just a big overall disappointment?

So, it was three weeks later. And Katie had still yet to talk to him.

And she felt _so bad._

Nick and Phil - mostly Phil - had both told her how worried and upset Steve was. She knew he wanted to get to know his daughter, but it's what might happen after he got to know her that Katie was worried about.

Sure, now Steve wanted to talk to her, to know everything about her and her life, but the 'what if' question was always in the back of Katie's mind.

What if once he knew her life and what she was like, he realized it wasn't going to work and he left. Katie was sure her heart couldn't handle it anymore.

She couldn't open up.

"I thought," Katie finally spoke up after a moment of silence, her eyes shifting back to Nick. "That you didn't want me anymore because me and Steve aren't on talking terms."

"I said I wanted you to talk to your father to make this team work," Nick corrected her. "But, if you don't want to talk to him, that's fine with me. We'll make it work."

"Wow. You must be very desperate."

"Trust me," Nick's face hardened. "Loki has made me _very_ desperate."

"Loki." Katie repeated slowly. "Thor's brother, right?"

Nick nodded, his face still giving away his hatred for the God in question. Katie still found it amazing how scary and imitating Nick could be with only one eye. If anyone else tried to pull off the same look, eye patch and intimidating face, Katie was sure she wouldn't be able to stop herself from laughing.

"And if I do join your team, I'll see him more." Katie said softly, almost like she was talking to herself, causing Nick to sigh.

"Katherine," He said, leaning forward. "I want you on this team because you can fight and shoot a gun just as good as Agent Romanoff. You can hold your own. Besides, I thought it was something you'd want to do. And, you are one of the few people left who have been with S.H.I.E.L.D. from the start." Nick paused for a moment as he studied her. "However, if you don't want to join this team because you're scared of seeing your father, that's fine with me."

"I'm not scared of seeing my father," Katie snapped at him, her face forming a glare.

"Well, you sure as hell are acting like it."

Katie continued to glare at Nick, her mind working over time. She wasn't scared to talk to her father, she was scared of being hurt. How many times did she have to explain herself?

Running a hand through her hair as she leaned back in the chair, Katie sighed.

"Where is everyone now?"

"Agent Romanoff and your father are in Germany to get Loki-"

"Wait a minute," Katie leaned forward, cutting him off. "The mission's already started and you're only talking to me now?"

"Yes," Nick snapped. "So, as you can imagine, I am _very_ busy and this is a crucial time. Right now we can use all the help we can get and you'd be a huge asset. I need you to listen right now." Katie wondered if she really was so big of an asset for Nick to actually take time to come talk to her for this. She was kind of flattered.

The woman didn't reply as she stared at the Director with crossed arms as he continued.

"Dr. Banner is at one of our labs, to locate the Tesseract."

"The Tesseract?" Katie repeated, eyes narrowed slightly. "The cube Uncle Howard fished out of the water when he was trying to find Steve?"

Nick nodded. "Dr. Banner believes Loki wants to create a portal to another world with it."

"Ahhh," Katie crossed her arms, leaning back in the chair. "Lovely."

"Katherine," Nick spoke suddenly, causing Katie to give him a questioning look. "Just like you said, if you join this team, you will be seeing your father a lot more. There's no denying that."

"I know." Katie replied softly, looking at her lap.

"But it's not only your father you will be seeing a more of. You'll be seeing a lot of Stark too." Nick pointed out. "When's the last time you saw him?"

"I don't see how any of this matters," Katie looked up at Nick, her voice not as hard as she would like it to be, before sighing after seeing Nicks face. "He was five."

"You want to know what I think?" Nick leaned back in his chair, not waiting for Katie to answer. "I think you should join the team. You need to open up more."

"So I've been told."

"Get to know the team. Get to know Stark. And your father." Nick continued. "You don't need to spend your life alone Katherine, not when you have the chance to have people around who can relate to you, especially your father."

Nick paused for a moment, studying Katie before speaking again when she didn't say anything and didn't look like she was going to.

"He wants to get to know you, your father really does." Nick told her. "You are the only one is this world that he can relate to and actually talk to. And he's the same for you. You both need each other, Katherine. No matter how hard you try to push him away."

Katie didn't say anything as she sat there, watching Nick. But, she didn't have to open her mouth anyways. She already knew that Nick knew her answer. He knew her answers most of the time before she even did.

"So," Katie finally spoke up. "Will I get a nickname out of all this too?"

Katie could see Nick's lips start to pull up in a smile, before his expression went back to unreadable, like always.

"Phil will be going with you to the base," Nick informed her as he stood up, Katie following his lead with a confused look.

"Base? You mean everyone isn't meeting here."

"It's not safe on the ground," Nick told her. "Not when Loki already tore apart one of our other bases. We have somewhere safer to meet."

Katie was about to open her mouth and question Nick ever further, before an agent suddenly knocked on the door and came in.

"Sir, the car's ready and Agent Romanoff would like you to call her once you're on the plane."

Nick gave the agent a nod before turning to Katie. "We better get moving. A car will be at your place to pick you up in a few hours. Pack light. You'll be introduced to the team once you get there."

"Umm, okay?" Was all Katie could say as she followed Nick out of his office and into the hallway, where Nick turned towards her.

"I'll see you there, Ms Rogers." Nick gave her one finally nodded before turning and walking away.

As Katie watched Nick slowly started to disappear down the hall, she couldn't help but calling out to him.

"Where exactly is _there_?!"

* * *

><p>"We're taking this plane to the Helicarrier, which is acting as a safe house and base right now."<p>

Katie nodded at Phil from her seat on the side of the small plane they were in, Phil standing up a few feet away from her.

True to his words, a car came to Katie's apartment two or so hours later. She only had a small bag packed to take with her. And now, she was sitting on a plane with Phil, heading towards the Helicarrier.

"So, what's happened so far?" Katie wondered. "With the mission."

"All I know as of now, is that Loki went to Stuttgart, Germany." Phil informed her. "Agent Romanoff and ah… Captain America went there to stop him. Soon, Stark joined them."

"And they're on their way back now?"

Phil nodded. "Yes. The three of them are on their way back, along with Loki."

Katie nodded as she shifted her eyes away from Phil and crossed her arms and legs.

Something didn't add up.

Loki wouldn't just go with them easily. She'd never met the guy, or even seen him in person for that matter, but from everything she'd read about him, she knew that he wouldn't go down without a fight. Then again, she hadn't been there in Germany, so she couldn't really judge what had happened. Still, she was pretty sure that Natasha and Steve hadn't been gone very long.

Before her thoughts could go any further, however, the sound of Phil clearing his throat caused Katie to look up at him with a raised eyebrow.

"Can I help you?"

"I, umm, I talked to your father earlier." Phil pointed out, nervousness in his voice.

"Hmmm," Katie nodded her head, her movements becoming stiff. "Did you now?"

Phil nodded once more, turning to look out the window in the front of the plane. Katie could tell by the look on his face that he was debating on if he should bring the subject up or not.

Katie really wished he'd pick not to bring it up. Unfortunately it seemed like the world hated her lately.

"He's really upset, Katie." Phil finally said, turning to Katie only to find her sitting there with an unreadable look on her face.

"So you keep telling me."

"I'm serious, Katherine."

Katie's head snapped up as Phil walked over and sat down next to her, a sober look on his face. Katie knew this was serious as she pinched her eyebrows together.

Phil never called her Katherine.

"He's trying to hide it. But everyone can tell he's hurt." Phil explained. "The first few days after your talk, he wanted to hear from you again. Then, when nothing got back to him…" Phil trailed off with a sigh. "He's hurting Katie. He'd never tell anyone and hides it well, but he's hurt."

Katie sat still as she listened to Phil. For awhile, the only sound that could be heard was the wind outside the plane and after some time Katie felt the plane start to slow down, informing them they were getting close to the Helicarrier.

What Phil told her was true. She knew, because Nick had told her the same story (of course, he was a little less _compassionate_). And when Nick told her this story, it broke her heart. Just to know that her father thought it was _his _fault that Katie wouldn't talk to him… It killed her.

It wasn't his fault. It was completely hers.

"What I don't understand," Katie finally spoke. "Is how you had a normal conversation with Captain America without saying something stupid."

Katie expected Phil to glare at her, or say something like how funny she was with a lot of sarcasm in his voice. But, when all Katie got back was silence, she turned to Phil with a raised eyebrow only to see a slightly pink face.

"Oh my god," A smile broke out on Katie's face. "What did you say?"

"Nothing," Phil answered quickly, before his face turned serious. "Listen. My point is, you need to talk to him Katie-"

"I wish people would stop telling me that." Katie snapped her head towards Phil as she took a breath in through her nose. She tried to remain cool - she was sixty-five years old after all - but, sometimes even Katie forgot her age and acted like a teenager.

"I know I need to talk to him." Katie ran a hand through her hair. "I know I should have called him weeks ago." _But, it's my life and my business._ "Okay? I'm trying. I've _tried_." _You all think I should talk to him, but you have no idea what I've gone though in my life._ "It's just… it's hard to talk to someone who you thought was dead." _No one knows what it's like to live so much longer than a normal human. Not even the one person on this planet who is like me._

This were the kind of battles Katie had with herself sometimes over the years. Her mental age always fighting with her physical age. And it was frustrating as hell. She thought it probably had something to do with hormones or something. But then again, how to the hell was she suppose to know? There was no one else like her in the world.

Katie let out a deep breath, eyes closed for a moment before she stared at the wall across from her, Phil not saying a thing.

Katie thought it would feel good to finally get all that - or at least some of it - off her chest, but it didn't. It just made her feel more alone if anything.

The plane started to go down as Phil and Katie remained silent, and it wasn't until the plane hit the deck of the Helicarrier that Phil spoke.

"Don't snap at me, just let me finish what I have to say," Phil said as they both stood up, walking off the plane, Katie listening to him. "You should talk to him. I know you don't want to, or can't, open up to him. Not yet at least. But, you do have to just explain to him that none of this is his fault."

Both Katie and Phil stepped out of the plane and onto the deck of the Helicarrier, the bright sun beating down on them as the wind blew Katie's blonde waves around like crazy.

"It's not that easy, Phil." Katie said as they made their way inside. "I wish it was, but it isn't."

Phil sighed. "Just, _try_ to talk to him, okay? For both your sake and the sake of this team."

"Phil, for you, I'll try to." Katie replied, giving him a small smile.

She was glad Phil decided to drop the topic after that. She knew they both could continue talking about this for hours, but she truly didn't want to right now.

They stepped inside the Helicarrier in silence and Katie let Phil lead the way down the halls.

"So," Katie spoke after a few moments. "Did you embarrass yourself?"

Katie almost laughed out loud as she saw Phil's cheeks turn a shade of pink again as he nodded his head slightly.

"Oh, Phil. What did you say now?"

"I ah," Phil cleared his throat. "I may have told him I watched him while he was sleeping."

Katie couldn't stop the laugh that worked its way up her throat and out of her mouth as she followed Phil around a turn and they headed towards a door.

"You never!" Katie managed to breath out through all the laughing, Phil's face turning redder.

"I'm glad someone finds it funny."

"I'm sorry, Phil." Katie placed a hand on his shoulder after she claimed down. "I shouldn't be laughing over your little crush."

"I don't have a crush."

Katie couldn't help but smirk. "You sure about that, Agent?"

As they reached the door, Phil turned to Katie, giving her a glare. However, before he could say anything, the door flew open and a dark-haired women was standing there.

"Ms Rogers," She gave Katie a nod as Katie turned fully around and gave her a smile.

"Agent Hill," Katie also nodded. "I see Nick gave you the memo about my name change. Funny thing is, he forgot to give it to me."

Katie was only half joking at this point. She was used to being called Rogers now, at least by Nick. He seemed to have a problem calling her Carter. But still, every time she heard it from someone new, it still gave her the chills. Good ones. Good ones that scared her.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Phil crack a smile, before going back to the poker face he was known best for. Maria, however, didn't even blink at the comment. But, Katie was used to that by now. Maria took her job seriously and Katie respected that.

"The team is in there now," Maria informed him. "Loki is in containment. Direction Fury is just about to explain the situation. He said you could come in when you got here."

Katie nodded as the smile slipped off her face, her stomach turning. She didn't realize how nervous she was about meeting the team until now.

Then again, it made sense for her to be this nervous.

Natasha she wasn't nervous about seeing. The woman was a good friend. The others however, she was more edgy about meeting. Not only would she be meeting Dr. Banner and Thor, one of whom turns green when angered and the other a god, but she was also seeing Tony for the first time in fourty-odd years. Not to mention she would be seeing her father again for the first time in three weeks.

Yeah, she had a right to be a bit nervous.

Taking a deep breath through her nose, Katie followed behind Maria - Phil following behind Katie - as Maria lead them into the main area on the Helicarrier. There, Katie could see a big number of people at work, all around different screens, along with a big table in the middle of the back of the room.

As they made their way towards the table, Katie finally got a good look at the team for the first time. And they were all fixed on Nick as he talked to them.

She saw Thor standing with his back to her, and he looked every bigger in person. Bruce was standing close to the back wall with Natasha dressed in her black cat suit, sitting at the table. But, the two people that caught her eyes were Tony and Steve.

Tony was standing next to Bruce, a smug look on his face as he said something to Nick, and Katie was almost knocked off her feet by how much he looked like Howard, smug like and all.

Steve, however, was sitting at the table a few seats down from Natasha, dressed in his Captain America outfit. It was obviously a different one than what he wore back in the 40's - more than likely something S.H.I.E.L.D. gave him - but Katie still felt her heart clinch at the sight of him.

The number of times growing up she wanted to see her father, dressed up in his Captain America outfit… She'd asked Howard to make her one once, but Peggy had drawn the line at the shield.

Seeing him sitting there really made Katie rethink talking to him later…

However, before her thoughts could go any further, her, Maria and Phil got close enough to hear what Nick was saying to the team.

"I've called in for help." Nick informed them, and Katie could see a confused look started to form on everyone's faces.

"Help?" Steve questioned as Tony snorted.

"You called forward, how did you put it, 'Earth's Mightiest Heroes' and you think we need help?" Tony raised an eyebrow. "Is this like a manager for your little boy band?"

Even though his back was turned to her, Katie could still tell Nick gave Tony a hard look for the comment.

"She's one of you and she's been around for… a nice while now."

Katie almost snorted out loud at that.

"A nice while?" Thor raised an eyebrow and Nick nodded.

"How long is a nice while exactly?" Bruce asked, while a look of understanding formed on Natasha's face, before it turned smug.

"She's been around since S.H.I.E.L.D. first got lifted off the ground."

"Seriously?" Tony laughed. "That would make her like, seventy years old!"

"Sixty-five actually."

The words left Katie's mouth before she could stop them. Everyone's eyes suddenly shifted to her as she walked up the steps and headed towards Nick, Maria going to stood off to the side along with Phil.

Silence fell as Katie looked around the table area, taking everyone in as they did the same to her.

Thor was the first person Katie's eyes landed on. Then again, how could they not, he was so big. Katie was far from being a tiny girl - being average height, well built and all - but she looked like an ant standing next to Thor. He stood there with his arms crossed as he eyed her curiously.

Natasha was sitting at the table, leaned back in her chair, arms crossed with a smirk on her face. When Katie's eyes met hers, Natasha gave Katie a small nod, which the blonde returned with a little smile on her face. It'd been a while since Katie had last talked to Natasha. And Katie really liked her, she felt like she could be herself around her. And around Clint. After all, they knew all about Katie and who her father was.

Shifting her eyes, Katie found Bruce and Tony watching her closely. Bruce had a curious look on his face as he eyed the blonde in front of them, while Tony had a raised eyebrow and still had a slightly smug look on his face. Katie had to look away because of the pain that started to form in her chest at how much he was reminding her of Howard.

Then again, the pain didn't stop as Katie's eyes flicked to her father. When she saw him watching her with a confused, hurtful and upset look on his face however, Katie had to look away. She didn't want to show weakness around the team when she hadn't even really met them yet, and she knew if she looked at her father any longer she wouldn't be able to take it.

She could only imagine the thoughts that were running though his head at the moment.

As Katie stood there, next to Nick, she watched as everyone's eyes studied her with everyone besides Natasha and Steve looking curious. And she didn't blame them. Standing before them after all was a woman who had been around since S.H.I.E.L.D. started, looking only twenty-five.

Then again, to Bruce, Thor and Tony, the person standing in front of them was more a blonde, blue-eyed, twenty-five year old dressed in black pants with black heeled boots and a white, flowing top with a black leather jacket.

To the three boys, she was the perfect human being.

"Sixty-five?" Tony broke the silence, a smirk forming on his lips. "Someone's specific. Are you this woman's granddaughter or something?"

The blonde raised her eyebrows at Tony before a small smile formed on her lips, and she couldn't help but see a pained look starting to form on Steve's face.

She didn't know why at first, but then she remembered something her Uncle Howard always used to tell her.

The look she just pulled caused her to look just like her mother.

"Not exactly," Katie couldn't help by give Tony a small smirk before Nick stepped in.

"Allow me to introduce you all to your newest teammate, Katherine Rogers."

At the name Rogers everyone's head - including Steve's - snapped up. Steve, because Katie told him she never went by Rogers but went by Carter instead. Everyone else, however, looked up in shock and confusion. Well, everyone besides Natasha, who seemed to be enjoying everything that was going on.

"Rogers?" Bruce questioned, breaking the silence.

"Any relation to Cap here, Katherine?" Tony asked, causing Katie to shift her gaze from Nick to him.

Silence fell around the room, causing Katie to glance up at Nick again. She thought he'd be the first to answer but when she found him watching her, she realized he wanted her to answer this one.

Looking away from Nick, Katie shifted her eyes to Steve, who was watching her with slightly pinched together eyebrows. She could tell by the look on his face that he was wondering how she was going to answer this.

Sighing, Katie realized there was only one way out of this. Besides, it wouldn't be a good idea to start off joining a team by flat out lying to them.

"Yes, actually. There is," Katie replied, her eyes still locked with Steve's before she looked up at everyone else. "He's my father."

* * *

><p><strong>Ohhhh! Katie had officially met the team!<strong>

**As always, thank you so much to _Tospringe _for helping me out/editing this chapter for me! And thank you so much to everyone who had reviewed/fav/followed this story, means so so much to me!**

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	7. She Don't Love You

_She Don't Love You - Eric Paslay._

_"My family is my strength and my weakness." - Aishwarya Rai Bachchan._

* * *

><p>"<em>Yes, actually. There is," Katie replied, her eyes still locked with Steve's before she looked up at everyone else. "He's my father."<em>

Silence.

The group of - how did Tony say it earlier? - 'Earth's Mightiest Heroes' fell silent the moment the words left Katie's mouth. And, if it wasn't for the situation, Katie probably would have laughed at the looks on their faces.

Bruce, Thor and Tony all had a very similar looks. A mix of confusion and curiosity. Thor's eyebrows were narrowed together slightly, as if he was trying to figure out how it was possible for Katie and Steve to be father and daughter. Bruce stood with wide eyes as they shifted between Katie and Steve, like he was looking for connections. Tony, however, looked like a fish out of water with his mouth hung open, head turning between father and daughter like he was watching a ping-pong match.

Meanwhile, Natasha really did look like she was about to burst out laughing. She knew Katie was Captain America's daughter. Katie had ended up telling her years ago, just a few days after they'd met. After meeting for the first time, it didn't take Natasha long to realize Katie was hiding something from her. And if you've ever tried to hide something from Natasha, you'd know it isn't a very good idea.

Steve, however, was watching Katie with weary eyes.

His mind was working overtime, trying to figure out the young woman standing next to Nick. But, he just couldn't understand her. She'd met him once, then didn't talk to him for three weeks, and now she's telling the whole team she was his daughter.

Steve couldn't figure out how her mind worked.

But he had his mind make up.

He was determined to take Katie aside after, to talk to her, to let her know that he wasn't going anywhere and was willing to make this work if she wanted to. If anything, they could sit down, talk, and figure out how to make this work for the team. Because Steve knew if two team members where off, the whole team was going to be.

Katie, however, was looking at anyone and anywhere besides Steve. Though she could feel his eyes on her, and now and then she'd catch sight of them out of the corner of her eye.

Katie didn't need to be smart to know that, at some point, Steve was going to try and talk to her. The problem was that Katie had no idea what to say to him.

There were a million and one things she wanted to say to her father. A million things she wanted to know about him. But, was she ready to finally sit down and talk to him, again?

She didn't know yet.

"Wait. One. Minute." Tony spoke up, breaking the long moment of silence as he turned to Steve. "Cap. I didn't you know you were married."

Steve turned around in his chair, giving him a confused look as Katie raised an eyebrow.

"I'm not."

"Then you actually had sex before you were married?" Tony gasped dramatically. "You were allowed to do that back in the 40's?"

Steve gave Tony a hard look, a tiny bit of blush on his cheeks. Katie rolled her eyes and Bruce and Natasha sighed while Thor still looked confused.

"You're very funny." Katie said, sarcasm lacing her voice as Tony turned and gave her a smirk.

"And you look very young for a sixty-five year old." Tony commented as he walked around the table up to Katie. "What do you use? Face cream? Botox? Plastic surgery?"

"Really, Stark?" Steve spoke up as Katie raised her eyebrows at Tony, who turned to Steve with a smug look on his face.

"What's the matter, Rogers? Don't like me this close to your daughter? Don't worry, she's too old for me anyways."

Katie let out a dry laugh and, for a split second, she was glad she'd stopped seeing Tony when he was only five. Because she had a funny feeling he'd have her driven up the wall.

"You're unbelievable."

"I'm Tony actually. Tony Stark. But yeah, I'm unbelievable too." Tony held to his hand, but Katie didn't take it, rolling her eyes instead.

"I know who you are."

"Of course you do."

"Stark," Natasha spoke up for her seat at the table, her eyebrows pinched together. "Leave the girl alone."

Before Tony could shot back a witty comeback, however, Katie spoke up as she gave Natasha a look. "I can take care of myself, Nat."

Natasha rolled her eyes, a smirk on her face. "Sure you can."

"Wait," Tony stepped forward, looking between the two women. "You two know each other?"

"Yeah. We trained together a few years ago." Katie told him, and out of the corner of her eye, she say Steve look down at the table.

Something else he didn't know about his daughter, probably.

"She was pretty good too." Natasha commented, causing Katie let out a soft snort.

"I do not understand." Thor spoke up before Katie could say anything, looking between Katie and Steve with curious eyes. "You both look of the same age. I thought you mortals aged fast then Asgardians?"

Katie gave Thor a small smile as she took a deep breath through her nose. It was obvious really, that once she'd said she was the daughter of Captain America, the questions would start coming.

"Well, physically, we are the same age." Katie's eyes flicked towards Steve for a split moment before looking back at Thor. "Seems like if you have super-solider DNA, you live longer than the normal human." Katie informed them all before walking up the Thor, smile on her face. "Thor, right?"

Returning the smile, Thor nodded. "Pleasure to meet you, Lady Katherine."

Katie let out an airy laugh. She'd never been called Lady Katherine before, and she's been called a lot of things. However, before she could correct him on her name, another voice spoke up.

"How much longer, exactly?"

Turning to her right, Katie found Bruce watching her with curious eyes. She couldn't blame him, it's not every day you met someone like Katie and Steve. Plus, she read Bruce's file. She knew about all the research he did, so for all Katie knew, he could have already suspected that with the serum, you aged slower.

Nodding, Katie walked closer to Bruce.

"About ten times longer, actually." She said, stopping a few feet away from Bruce as she stuck her hand out. "Dr. Banner, it's nice to meet you."

Bruce smiled, shaking her hand. "You as well, Katherine."

"Call me Katie," Katie told me before looking around at everyone else. "The only one who calls me Katherine is Nick, and that's only because he won't _not_ call me that."

Nick shot Katie a hard look. But before he could say anything, Tony cut him off.

"So, if you're Caps off-spring and have that serum in your DNA," He questioned. "Does that mean you are a super-solider like your old man?"

Katie raised an eyebrow at Tony, trying to figure out if he was serious. Why the hell would Nick ask her to help if she was just a normal human?

"Yes, Stark." Katie answered. "I'm like… Steve."

"Hmmm," Tony hummed, raising an eyebrow. "_Steve_?"

"Tony." Bruce spoke up as he pinched the bridge of his nose as Katie's eyebrows narrowed. "Drop it."

"What? I wasn't doing anything wrong."

As Tony gave Bruce an innocent look, Katie suddenly felt someone's eyes on her. And when she looked to her right, she found Natasha watching her. When their eyes met, Natasha's eyes flicked down the table towards Steve.

It was only then that Katie realized Steve was quiet through-out this whole conversation, and she could basically see his mind reeling.

Steve listened on as Katie walked around to each team member, introducing herself to them. All he could think about was what he was going to say to her.

Katie was obviously keeping her distance from him. The three weeks of not calling or trying to talk had him quickly get the hint. And the fact that she wouldn't even look at him right now was a bonus.

She's been - and was - keeping her distance. Steve guessed the tricky part was trying to get Katie to just look at him. Next he could figure out what he was actually going to say.

He didn't want to scare her off like he had last time, so he was obviously going to have to be careful with what he was going to say to her. Unfortunately, Steve had no clue how to even start a conversation.

Feeling someone's eyes on him, Steve looked up from the table only to see Katie watching him. However, the moment their eyes met, she looked away, causing Steve to let out a silent sigh.

Katie shifted her eyes back to Natasha, giving her a small shrug. Natasha, however, just gave her a look that clearly said they were going to have to talk later.

"If we are done here…" Nick started to speak to his team. However, he stopped and let out a sigh when he heard Tony let out a low whistle.

Unfortunately for Katie - and Steve - Tony noticed their little, somewhat awkward, interaction. Katie could feel Tony's gaze on her as her eyes flicked to Steve once more, only to see Steve watching her. Steve gave her a tiny smile before Katie had to shift her eyes back once again, not being able to look at him.

However, the moment Tony let out a whistle, the whole team shifted to look at him while an annoyed yet hard look appeared on Nick's face.

"Ohhh," Tony crossed his arms over his chest, a smug look on his face. "Do I sense some tension in the air?"

While some of the team members gave Tony a confused look, Steve and Katie knew what he was talking about.

Steve's eyes slicked towards Katie for a split moment, before turning back to Tony, his eyebrows pinched together.

Katie, however, let out a dry laugh as she crossed her arms across her chest.

"This is going to be fun."

"What does Man of Iron mean?" Thor spoke up, confusion on his face as he liked around at the other Avengers, some of which looked just as confused.

It wasn't hard to tell that there was some tension around Steve and Katie. But then again, they only met each other about a month ago. They were still trying to get to know each other. At least, this is what the other Avengers picked up. But obliviously, Tony noticed something more.

"It would seem," Tony smirked. "That there are a few family problems between the Rogers'."

"Stark." Natasha snapped, sending Tony a hard look. "Back off."

"Tony," Bruce stepped in. "I don't think know is the time for-"

"I'm just stating the oblivious." Tony shrugged, cutting Bruce off before pointing at Steve and Katie. "Though just so you two know, it's not very professional to bring your at-home problems to work."

"Enough." Nick spoke up just as Katie stepped forward, eyes pinched together in a glare. "Stark, you and Banner head to the lab and try to locate the cube. The rest of you," Nick looked between Thor, Katie, Natasha and Steve, trying to decide where to put them before sighing. "Just… Try to keep this plane in the air."

As Nick walked away, Maria followed behind him in a heartbeat, only casting the team before her a quick look. Phil, however, gave Katie a small smile before sharing a quick look with the rest of the team, also following after Nick.

Silence once again fell around the team as everyone tried to figure out what to do now.

Katie knew she had only just joined the team and was still getting to know people - hell, she'd only just met them - but she still felt like she was a guest. Someone who just happened upon this team and was for the time hanging out with them.

So, she decided to make it her personal mission to get to know the team a bit better.

Then again, how to hell was she going to do that when she couldn't even talk to her own father?

"Well," Tony spoke up, breaking the silence around them. "I have a few questions for mini Cap and Papa Cap."

"Seriously, Stark?" Steve gave Tony a pointed look.

Katie sighed, pinched the bridge of her nose. "Didn't Nick give you a job to do?"

"Yes." Tony nodded. "But I never listen to Fury."

"Come on Tony," Bruce spoke up. "Let's head to the labs. You'll have time to talk to Katie later."

"Fine," Tony sighed dramatically as he made his way towards to doors, Bruce following behind him. "I'd much rather try to get you to turn into the green rage monster anyways."

That was the last they heard of Tony as him and Bruce walked out the door and the room fell silent for a short moment, until Katie spoke up.

"Well. He's a pain in the ass."

"You don't have to be as smart as him to figure that out." Natasha commented as she stood up. "Well, I'm going to head to the gym."

"What?" Katie asked, watching as Natasha walked past her.

Turning around, Natasha raised an eyebrow at Katie, and the blond could easily see what she was doing. Natasha wanted Katie and Steve to be alone and talk. The only thing was, Katie didn't want to talk to her father right now. So, thank god Thor was still standing there.

"Lady Natasha," Thor spoke up, stepping forward. "Would you show me where I can get some sustenance?"

Never mind.

Natasha nodded, giving Thor a smile.

"Ahh," Katie spun around only to see Thor and Natasha's backs as they walked out the door. However, just before she disappeared, Natasha gave Katie a pointed look.

Then, she was gone.

Katie took a deep breath through her nose as she ran a hand through her hair.

She was going to kill Natasha later on.

Turning around, Katie saw Steve stand up from his chair he was sitting at, a look of determination and sadness on his face.

Katie knew what he was going to say, and she was hoping to stop him before he could start.

"Listen, I-"

"Can we talk?" Steve cut her off as he walked towards her, stopping a few feet away.

Steve watched as Katie lightly bit on her bottom lip, his eyes shifting down to see her index finger starting to lightly tap on her right leg.

_I do the same thing… When I'm thinking about something. I tap my finger too._

Eyes shifting back up, Steve studied Katie, the wheels turning in her head as she looked off to the side. She was obviously thinking about something.

_Should I? _Katie thought over and over. _Should I talk to him?_

Sighing, Katie finally looked back up at Steve. She realized that there really was no getting out of this. There we floating in the sky for God sakes! It wasn't like she had many places to run and hide.

"Sure. Yeah." Katie nodded. "Let's talk."

* * *

><p>"I feel like I'm in trouble." Katie laughed dryly as she followed Steve the first room they saw. A small, boring room that contained a television, couch, two chairs and a coffee table.<p>

Steve casted Katie a weary look before sitting down in one of the two chairs as Katie sat down on the couch, facing him, her eyes looking anywhere but him.

They both sat in silence for a few moments, until it got to the point where Steve actually thought he'd have to start talking first. However, this caused him to almost jump when Katie turned to him.

"Listen," She started. "Before we start, I just wanted to say, it isn't your fault I haven't talked to you."

And she wasn't lying, all of this was far from Steve's fault. It was Katie's. She was the one who couldn't let anyone in. She was the one who was sacred of being a disappointment to her own father. She was the one who was scared to get close to anyone. Because, getting close to people meant they saw the real you. And Katie' didn't even really know who the 'real Katie' was anymore.

"Did I say something to you that made you upset?" Steve questioned.

He knew Katie just said it wasn't his fault, but he still couldn't help but feel like it was. After all - to him at least - it seemed like their talk to had been going along pretty well until he spoke up at the end.

"No. No, you never." Katie shook her head, looking up at Steve. "it's just… I had, have, some… things, I had to deal with."

"What kind of things?" Steve asked before he could stop himself, causing Katie to cast him a weary look.

"Some personal things."

Steve sighed, leaning back in his chair as he ran a hair through his hair. He was right. It was going to be hard talking to Katie, and even harder to get her to open up.

"Katie," Steve spoke up, the name sounding foreign on his throat. "I know that… I don't know you-"

"You're right."

Steve stopped, raising his eyebrow slightly at Katie, who was looking off to the side. "I'm sorry?"

"You're right." Katie repeated, turning to look at Steve. "You don't know me."

Katie didn't say it in an over-dramatic teenage way like they did in the movies. In fact, Steve wasn't offended by her words at all. If anything, the reason he felt a pain in his chest was because of the look in Katie's eyes.

The normally baby-blue eyes that were so much like his, were now dull and held a sadness and emptiness to them that made Steve just want to pull his daughter into a hug. But he knew he couldn't.

"But I want to." He told Katie softly, but she just snorted and leaned back against the couch, almost like she couldn't believe that someone would want to get to know her.

Which was actually what she was thinking.

Sure, Steve wanted to get to know her now. But, Katie wasn't as she appeared. All the jokes and confidence was just an act. When Steve got to know his daughter and see who she really was…

Steve knew he had to say something. He was losing her and soon, he was sure Katie would walk out again. He had to let her know he was serious about all this.

"When you're nervous, you make jokes." Steve stated suddenly, cause Katie to lift her eyes. "Don't you?"

Katie gave Steve a, somewhat, confused look as her eyebrows pinched together lightly. But, Steve could tell that she knew what he was talking about.

"What?"

"When we first met," Steve explained. "One of the first things you did was make a joke. You did the same thing when we walked into the room. You were nervous."

Katie pinched her eyebrows together more. "How do you know I was nervous?"

"Both times you were tapping your finger, something you said you did when you are thinking about something," Steve said. "But I think you also do it when you're nervous."

Katie fell silent, her eyes shifting from Steve to her hands folded on her lap.

He was right.

And Steve knew this. He knew he was right. He also knew, as he watched Katie, that he had to say what he had to say now, or it would never be said.

"I know… I know you haven't had the easiest life," Steve spoke up, clearing his throat as Katie slowly lifted her eyes. "And I know it's probably been a while since anyone's ever been there for you. But, Katie, I want to get to know you. I want to be there for you. You don't have to be alone. I…" Steve trailed off, taking a deep breath. "I want to get to know my daughter."

Katie froze in her spot, her eyes still locked on Steve.

Steve told her before that he wanted to get her know her. None of this information was new to her, so it shouldn't make her act this way, right? Wrong.

Because Steve didn't want to know Katie. He wanted to get to know his _daughter_.

The problem was, Katie didn't know how to be Steve Rogers' daughter.

She was Peggy Carter's daughter. She was Howard Stark's 'niece'. Hell, at times she'd even thought of herself as Chester Phillips granddaughter. But being Steve Rogers' daughter was one thing Katie didn't know.

Yes, he was her father. But, he'd never been around. And she would have turned out differently if he'd been there for her growing up… Right?

Katie softly bit down on her bottom lip as she stared at the wall behind Steve.

He also said she didn't want her to be alone, but being alone was all she knew. Well, she wasn't completely alone. She still had her mother. But, for the better part of thirty years, she'd been by herself. She would come home to empty and cold apartments. She'd cook supper for herself and have no one to talk to as she ate.

And because that'd been her life for so long, Katie didn't know any other way of living. At the end of the day, she was still the only one like her.

_Until now_.

Katie told her heart to shut up. She already had her own thoughts to deal with, she didn't need something else to listen to.

"Katie?"

Looking up, Katie found Steve watching her with tired eyes. Maybe she'd been off in her own little world longer than she thought.

As Katie looked into her fathers eyes, she felt her stomach started to twist in knots and her mouth started to work on its own.

"I… I can't remember the last time someone wanted to know _me_." Katie spoke softly, and she could tell by the look on Steve's face that she didn't need to explain herself to him.

People - meaning the people who know who she was - wanted to know Captain America and Peggy Carter's daughter. They wanted to know how much like her father she was. They wanted to know what her life had been like growing up young and beautiful. But hardly anyone wanted to know Katherine Rogers.

"I know this is hard," Steve spoke in a gentle tone, almost father-like, as he picked his words carefully. "But I really do want to get to know _you_, Katie."

"I just…" Katie paused for a moment to clear her throat, which suddenly started to go dry. "I need time."

Katie almost flinched when she saw the look of hurt and disappointment flash across Steve's face.

"Time?" He said in a tried voice. "Time."

"I know that this is hard for you too," Katie said quickly. "I know that this isn't fair to you, me making you wait around like this. I just… It's… I need more time."

"Katie," Steve sighed, but Katie spoke up before he could carry on.

"You were dead," She blunted out before she could stop herself. "I grew up thinking you were gone, that I was never going to see you again. And I expected that. So, to have you here now-" Katie stopped and swallowed as she felt her throat became more dry, before speaking in a low tone. "You were dead."

Silence fell the room as Katie's last words echoed off the walls, speaking nothing but the truth. Because to everyone, Steve was dead. He was not coming back so everyone moved on and lived their lives, without him.

"How much more time?" Steve questioned softly, but Katie continued to look down at her lap.

She could feel all her emotions bubbling up in her stomach, and she couldn't take it anymore. She needed to… She need to _hit something_.

Slowly, Katie started to stand up as she ran a hand through her hair, gripping the roots tightly for a moment before letting her hand fall.

"I don't know."

Her voice was low and soft, and she hated it. She hated how weak and small she felt right now. She hated it and she need some air, she needed to get away.

Slowly looking up, Katie's baby-blue eyes met Steve's pleading ones. Pleading her to stay and to open up. Wanting her to talk to him.

But she couldn't.

Katie took in a breath, about to say something but no words came out. However, her eyes said everything she couldn't. She was telling Steve how sorry she was and how much pain she was feeling right now just by looking at him.

Without another breath, Katie turned around and headed towards the door. Her hand froze on the doorknob and, for a moment, Steve thought she was actually about to turn around.

But he was wrong.

Steve stayed rooted in place as he watched Kate slowly turn to doorknob and pushed the door open, stepping out of the room. Just before to the door closed behind her, however, Katie turned around and Steve caught her eye for a split second before the door shut.

And in that spilt second, Steve saw what Katie wanted so badly to tell him.

_I'm sorry._

* * *

><p><strong>Go easy on me with this chapter... I've been working on it forever and I'm still not happy with it.<strong>

**Also, don't worry! Next chapter, the action starts and in about two chapters, Katie and Steve finally start working together. And everything from the way Tony's acting to Katie's reasoning will be explained soon! Please keep an opened mind!**

**Now, I must go and write out some English notes and watch last night episode of Agent Carter.**

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	8. Box Of Secrets

_Box Of Secrets - Zarif._

_"Family is the most important thing in the world." - Princess Diana._

* * *

><p>Katie didn't know where she was going. She just kept taking left and right turns, her legs basically moving on their own accord. All she knew was that she needed to get away.<p>

Her mind was reeling, working overtime as she mulled over everything that just happened. Picks and pieces of her talk with Steve replaying in her head in flashes, playing over and over as if on a never-ending loop.

"_You're right… You don't know me."_

"_But I want to."_

"_I want to get to know you. I want to be there for you. You don't have to be alone."_

"_I want to get to know my daughter."_

This was one of those times when Katie's mental age and physical age started to battle each other.

Really, she was sixty-five years old. She was past the time of wanting people to depend on. She - in a sense - lived her life. She didn't want someone to fuss and pick at her. She didn't _need _that.

But, she was also a twenty-five year old. And there was nothing the twenty-five year old Katie wanted right now than a family. That side of Katie wanted someone to care for her and be there with her. That side wanted a parent around.

The problem with all this was, because Katie spent most of her life acting younger than she actually was, the part of her that wanted a family was strong. The twenty-five year old part of her often felt stronger then the sixty-five year old part.

Was she being overdramatic for not letting Steve in yet? Maybe.

But really, at this point in her life, her mother was really to only one who knew the real Katie Rogers, who knew Katherine. Hell. Katie didn't even really know who the really Katherine Rogers was anymore.

Because growing up, everyone seemed to know who she was before she even knew herself. There again, she was just like her mother. So anyone who knew what Peggy Carter was like knew what Katie Rogers was like.

She'd been in her late twenty's early thirties when she'd slowly started visiting her mother less and less.

People had started noticing that Peggy Carter's daughter wasn't aging, and they got suspicious. Peggy said she would move, but Katie knew her mother's life was there in New York with Katie's step-father and half-siblings - yes, her mother re-married, but she wasn't getting into that right now - so she told her not to. And soon, weekly visits turned monthly and monthly visits turned yearly. Now, Katie had to be extra carefully when visiting her mother, just so no one would get suspicious and prevent her from seeing Peggy all together.

But, that was Katie's life. She would have people in her life then slowly start backing away from them. She was so used to it now that, Katie didn't know how to be part of a family anymore.

"You look like you need to hit something."

Katie jumped - which was surprising because of her peaked senses - as she looked around.

_Wow, I was really out of it_, Katie thought as she looked to her left and saw a room that housed a number computers along with a big screen on the front wall. Natasha was leaning over one of the many computers, her hands stopped flying over a keyboard as she looked over at Katie.

"You okay?" Natasha asked, her eyebrows pinched together slightly as Katie slowly walked into the room and over to Natasha, plastering a small smile on her face.

"Yeah, of course I'm okay. Why wouldn't I be."

"You don't look okay." Natasha pointed out plainly as she stood up straighter.

Katie let out a forced laugh, hoping and praying in sounded convincing to Natasha. Really, she was stupid for even thinking she could fool the Russian spy.

"Natasha," Katie gave the redhead a smile. "I think I would know if-"

"Katie."

The smile on Katie's face fell as she watched Natasha raise an eyebrow, obviously not buying the lies Katie was telling. And honestly, Katie would be worried if she _did_ fall for her lies.

"What are you doing in here?" Katie asked as she lifted her eyes to the giant screen in front of her, changing the subject.

"Trying to get as much intel as possible." Natasha replied simply as she clicked a few keys on the keyboard.

Images and files about Loki, Asgard and Loki's scepter came to life on the screen before Katie, and she had a feeling that this wasn't Natasha's first time reading over these files.

Katie's eyes moved from file to file, image to image as she tried to take in as much information as possible. Of course, that was hard to do when she felt Natasha's eyes basically burn a hole in the side of her head.

"How did the talk with your father go?"

"Wow," Katie's eyes life the screen and turned to Natasha, who causally went back to typing on the keyboard. "No beating around the bush for you, is there?"

"I'm serious, Katie." Natasha glanced up at the blonde for a moment before turning back to the screen.

"How did you…" Katie watched Natasha with narrowed eyes before she to clicked in her head. "Right. You're like, a master interrogator. Can't you make me a promise that you'll never use that superpower on me?"

Natasha sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose before dropping her hand and giving the blonde a pointed look.

"Katie."

'_When you're nervous, you make jokes… Don't you?'_

Steve wasn't the only one who'd figured out that fact.

Katie took a deep breath as she crossed her arms

"It… could have gone better."

Natasha didn't response, and Katie could only hear the sound of Natasha's fingers hitting the keys. It was silent for a few moments until Natasha finally spoke up, never taking her eyes on the screen.

"What happened?"

Her talk with Steve flashed before her once again in a matter of seconds as Katie sat there. She didn't respond as she closed her eyes, taking a deep breath in through her nose as Steve's hurt-filled eyes flicked before her.

Maybe, this is what she needed. Maybe having some 'girl-time' would make her feel better about everything and lift the weight she was feeling off her chest.

Plus, Katie knew better then to keep something from Natasha. She'd learned that the hard way.

"He," Katie started, stopping to clear her throat, eyes still looking straight ahead. "He said… He said he wanted to get to know me. That he didn't want me to be alone anymore. He…" Katie took a deep breath before speaking softly. "He said he wants to know his daughter."

Silence full around the room as Natasha stopped typing and the two girls were left to their own thoughts. And this was why Katie liked Natasha. She didn't push, not really anyways. She knew when Katie needed to talk to someone and to remain silent if needed.

"This is hard on you, isn't it?" Natasha spoke up after a few moments, gazing up at the blonde.

Katie let out a dry laugh. "You know, you're the only person to ask me that. Everyone else just _assumes_ this is hard for me." Katie paused for a moment before looking up at Natasha, who was also watching the blonde. "But yes. It is."

Taking a deep breath, Katie shifting to glance to her hands suddenly finding her finger nails interesting as she spoke.

"I told him I needed more time." She told Natasha, pausing for a moment. "Growing up with mum, and everyone… I still had no one to _really _talk to or relate to. The thought of actually having someone I can relate to and talk to about my problems, finally after all this time... It scares me."

"I know how you feel, you know." Natasha said, but Katie didn't look up at her. "I didn't have anyone for the longest while. But, now…" Natasha paused for a moment, her eyes unfocused, before continuing. "It's nice to have someone you can talk to. And trust me, you don't want to lose that person."

Natasha stopped talking, but Katie still didn't look up at her.

She knew who Natasha was talking about, and she knew it was killing the red-head to not know anything about Clint. For that was who her go-to person was. Clint and Natasha were always together, when they could be anyways. They were partners.

"Talk to him." Natasha spoke up again as she turned so her full body was facing Katie, who looked up at her with a raised eyebrow.

"I already tried that, Tash." Katie informed the read-head. "Twice actually, and I walked out both times."

"Then try again," Natasha pushed. "And don't walk out. 'Cause, Katie, as hard as this is for you, it's just as hard for him. And at least he's trying."

Katie didn't response as she crossed her arms over her chest.

She knew this was hard for Steve. She knew she wasn't being fair to him. Because at least her life changed with her present during it. Steve, he went down in a plane having people he loved and called family only to wake up seventy years later with-

A daughter. He has a daughter. He didn't wake up with no one, he woke up with a daughter. He had Katie. But, she was pushing him away…

Katie's chest suddenly started to hurt again. She couldn't believe how selfish she was being. Then again, Steve was really like a stranger to her, so of course she was pushing him away. That's what Katie always did to strangers.

Taking a deep breath through her nose, Katie's thoughts were suddenly interrupted when Natasha spoke up straighter after clicking a few keys, making the giant screen go dark..

"You're lucky, you know that?"

Katie didn't say anything, she just continued looking down at the hands. But, she knew Natasha was right. She was lucky.

She was lucky because she had her father back. How many people could say that they grew up thinking their father was dead, only to have him show up sixty years later? How many people could say that they got a second change at being with their family?

"Besides," Natasha said, a lightness in her voice. "Most of the people on this team don't have parents anymore."

Katie head snapped up and she gave Natasha an unbelieving look, only to see the red-head had a smirk on her face.

"The guilt card," Katie rolled her eyes. "Nice, Nat."

Natasha shrugged, a smirk still on her face.

"Anyways, I have work to do." Natasha said. "The world is in danger after all, may as well start finding out what Loki's play is."

Katie raised an eyebrow as she started to follow Natasha out of the computer room and back into the hallway.

"Gonna use your interrogation superpower on him?"

Natasha looked over her shoulder. "Of course."

Katie shook her head, a small smile on her face before Natasha came to a stop and turned around, facing Katie as the two girls stood in the middle of the hallway.

"I meant what I said when you walked in," Natasha told her. "You look like you need to hit something."

Katie felt a smile start to tug at her lips, realizing what Natasha was saying. "And I feel like it too."

Natasha smiled. "When all this is over. We'll have to go boxing again."

"Yeah, so I can beat you."

"Really?" Natasha raised an eyebrow. "Felling confident, Rogers?"

"I don't know," Katie shrugged, a small smile on her face. "Maybe."

* * *

><p>Once again, Katie was wandering around the Helicarrier. Just taking left and right turns until she came up with an idea of something to do, or somewhere to go.<p>

She didn't realize it earlier, but she had yet to get a room, so she'd have to find Nick later and ask him for one. Until then, Katie was actually fine with wandering around the Helicarrier, exploring the place.

She had finally managed to calm her mind down. But, she still couldn't help but think about what Natasha had told her, and how right she was…

No. For the next few hours, Katie wasn't going to think about anything to do with her life or Steve. She was going to take a few hours and relax. Then, and only then, would she even think about what she was going to do about that situation.

Honestly, Katie really did want to hit something. And she probably should have, it may have made her feel better. But, the talk with Natasha had distracted her slightly. She could make her way the gym, maybe. She could have asked Natasha to go with her, but she was off to interrogate Loki-

Loki.

A thought then came to Katie. What were they fighting against? This was obviously bigger than Loki. So, what were they fighting against? Surely not just the demigod. Katie was sure there had already been a meeting about all this, but she was late getting on the plane, so she'd probably missed it.

She'd have to ask Nick, or anyone really, about that the next time she ran into someone.

Walking down the hall, Katie was going to continue on exploring the Helicarrier when she walked passed a glass wall.

Looking in, Katie saw Tony and Bruce working on some computers and talking back and forth to each other.

She stood there for a few moments, watching them. Well, she was mostly watching Tony.

From afar - and when he wasn't talking - it was like she was looking at her Uncle Howard again. Actually, when Tony was back towards her, she half expected him to turn around and turn out to really _be_ Howard Stark. And then Howard would spot her outside the room, smile brightly and gesture for her to come in, where he would show her what he was working on and even get her to help him, with the easy stuff of course.

But then Tony turned around, and she didn't see Howard, and her heart dropped a little.

She couldn't help but wonder what would have happened to Tony if she'd been in his life. Would he be like he was now? Would he still big the biggest pain in the ass Katie had ever seen and met in her life?

Cause that's the only word she could use to describe Tony. Asshole.

Then, a sudden horrible thought hit Katie.

What if, when Tony found out she grew up with Howard closely around, he'd hate her? What if he'd seen it as she got the childhood he should have had - because while Howard had been hard on Tony, he hadn't been on Katie - and hated her for it?

_That's not your fault_. Katie tried to tell herself. It wasn't really working.

Sighing, Katie looked down the hall in front of her. There was nothing special, just a long hallway with doors. So, seeing that she had nothing better to do, Katie walked up to the door of the lab.

Just as she stepped in, however, she saw Tony walk up behind Bruce and poke him in his side. Bruce jumped slightly and turn to Tony, shaking his head.

Titling her head to the side, Katie narrowed her eyes slightly.

"Are you nuts?"

Both Tony and Bruce spun around, only to find Katie leaning against the doorway, arms crossed.

"Funny," Tony spoke up, the corners of his lips tugging up slightly. "Your father was just in here and said the same thing. Though, you don't look have a pissed as he did."

Katie pushed himself off the doorframe and walked into the room, he eyebrow raised.

"Pissed?"

"I know right," Tony walked around the desk. "One would think that spangles doesn't have it in him to be pissed, but he does." Tony shook his head slightly as he walked over to one of the screen and started tapping it. "And to think, he's the man my father completely obsessed over."

"Tony." Bruce looked up from Loki's scepter, giving Tony a sharp look.

However, Katie didn't notice this as her head snapped towards Tony, eyes wide slightly as her heart started to beat a bit faster.

"What?" She meant to say something else, something witty, but that was the only word that would come out.

Tony, however, just nodded, not even looking up from his work. "Yup. Good old pops spent most of my life looking for yours. Searched everywhere for him. But, the closest thing he found was that stupid cube we're trying to find now, again." The bitterness in Tony's voice was hard for Katie to miss. "I'm pretty sure that's all my dad did with his life, try to find Spangles."

Katie stood there, frozen in spot as Tony and Bruce continued to work away at whatever they were doing. She wanted to say something, she just didn't know what. Still, she knew she had to say _something_.

"Well," She finally spoke, clearing her throat. "I'm pretty sure that's not how he spent his _whole_ life."

At once, Tony and Bruce both looked up. Bruce, more so, with a curious look on his face while Tony narrowed his eyebrows slightly, confused.

"I knew him," Katie pointed out before quickly explaining herself. "My mum and your dad," She nodded at Tony. "They started S.H.I.E.L.D. together. So, yeah, I knew Un- Howard."

She really hoped Tony didn't notice her slip up, because she really wasn't in the mood to explain to him why she calls his father 'Uncle', not when Tony clear doesn't like his father too much.

Lucky for her, the confusion fell off Tony's face and a smirk took his place.

"Right. I forgot you're an elderly woman."

Katie just rolled her eyes, relieved that Tony dropped the subject, before she turned to Bruce.

"So," She said, walking up to the desk Bruce was working at. "What actually are you doing?"

"In simple terms?" Bruce looked up at the blonde who stood on the other side of his desk, a small smile on his face.

"Now, what makes you think I need it explained to me in simple terms?" Katie joked, a small smile also on her face and, when Bruce gave her a look, she laughed. "Yes, simple terms."

"We're trying to find the cube now."

"That much I knew," Katie laughed again. "Anything I can do?"

Katie watched as Bruce's eyes moved around the room, trying to find somewhere to put her, before the rested on her.

"I don't think so, Katie…" Bruce spoke, sounding unsure of himself, almost as if he felt bad because he didn't have anything for her to do.

"It's fine, Bruce." Katie smiled at him. "I don't think I'll be much help anyways. You and Tony seem to have your own thing going on here.

"Anyways, I have a question for you, mini Cap." Tony spoke up suddenly, looking over at Katie through the screen he was at. "When was the last time you actually spoke to papa Cap?"

Katie eyes narrowed slightly, taken aback by the question. "Ah, like, a hour ago."

"I think that your little talk is one reason why he was so pissed," Tony pointed out, but as Katie opened her mouth to say something, Tony continued. "What, I mean, you guys met when? A month ago? When was the last time you talked to him between now and then?"

Katie crossed her arms as she watched Tony with narrowed eyes, Bruce working on behind her, but she knew he was just trying not to be rude.

Was their talk really the reason Steve was pissed? Katie knew he had a right to be upset, but _pissed?_ She just couldn't see it. Then again, maybe this was Tony's way of trying to get answers out of her.

However, as she continued to study Tony, she suddenly realized what he was getting at.

"How do you know?"

"You didn't answer my question."

"Three weeks." Katie spoke up, her eyes shifting to the floor before looking back up at Tony. "Three weeks ago was the last time I talked to and saw him until today. How did you know?" Katie told him, repeating her question.

"Easy really," Tony shrugged, walking around the screen and up to Katie. "When you got here, you hardly looked at him. And, when you did, it was only for a second. Plus, you also call him Steve."

"You could tell I haven't talked to… him, in three weeks because I call him Steve?" Katie asked, raising an eyebrow.

"No," Tony shook his head. "I can tell you haven't talk to him because you guys don't have a relationship yet. Therefore, you call him Steve."

Katie looked at Tony, her face relaxing as she uncrossed her arms before softly starting: "How-"

"I was the same way with my father," Tony told her. "I called him Howard a lot because we didn't have… the best relationship."

Katie didn't have anything to say to that as she looked at Tony, taken back slightly by him telling her something so personal. And his words broke her heart. Everything about the way Tony had been acting when they first met was suddenly making sense. Katie knew Tony wasn't the best at emotional connections, but he'd never been close to his father. And Katie wasn't close to Steve, so even though he was a bit oblivious, Tony would spot that.

Before she could open her mouth, however, a beep was heard from one of the screens and Tony walked over to it as Katie cleared her throat.

"What's that?"

"Oh," Tony glanced over at her with a smirk, all traces of their talk gone. "JARVIS was running a decryption program, to break into all of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s secure files. And it looks like it just finished."

Katie couldn't help the way her eyes grew wide. She didn't care much for S.H.I.E.L.D. anymore. Still, she grew up with S.H.I.E.L.D., she'd been around when they first started. So, to hear that Tony broke into the secure files, it rubbed her the wrong way.

"I'm sorry. What?"

"Now you sound like your father," Tony commented, his eyebrows pinching together before he looks over at Bruce. "You ever hear of Phase 2?"

Bruce looked up at Tony, shaking his head.

"Phase 2?" Katie spoke up, now interested.

"Yeah. Hey! You've been around forever," Katie couldn't help by roll her eyes at Tony's comment. "Have you heard of this?"

"No, I haven't." Katie shook her head as she walked over and stood next to Tony, reading the files.

"Well, looks like S.H.I.E.L.D. is hiding all kinds of secrets."

Katie gave Tony a look just as the door to the lab opened and Nick walked in, looking anything but pleased.

"What are you doing, Mr. Stark?"

"I was wondering the same about you." Tony replied, causing Nick to give him a hard look as Katie crossed her arms, giving Nick a look too, not that he noticed. He was too busy staring at Tony.

"You're supposed to be locating the Tesseract."

"We are." Bruce cut in as he pointed to one of the computer screens. "The model's locked and we're sweeping for a signature now. Once we get a hit, we'll have the location with half a mile."

"And you'll get your cube back, no muss, no fuss." Tony looked back at the screen, before turning back to Nick. "What _is_ Phase 2?"

"Phase 2 is when S.H.I.E.L.D. uses the Cube to make weapons." Katie _almost_ jumped as Steve walked in the door and slammed a weapon down on the table. "I'm sorry, but your computer was moving a little slow for me."

Steve shifted his eyes from Tony to Katie and they locked eyes for a moment, Katie narrowing hers slightly. He didn't look _that_ pissed. More hurt and upset if anything. And Katie that that probably had something to do with her... Maybe anyways, it also probably had something to do with his talk with Tony earlier.

"Rogers, we gathered everything related to the Tesseract." Nick sighed, grabbing Steve's attention. "This does not mean that we're-"

Now, Katie was getting pissed. Was Nick really about to tell them that Phase 2 was nothing when it was obviously _something_. Something that they now knew about.

"I'm sorry, Nick." Katie spoke up as she stepped forward, turning around one of the screens as she glared at Nick. "You were saying?"

Nick's face turned hard he stared at Katie, only looking away when Steve spoke up. And Katie could see Thor and Natasha walk in.

"I was wrong, Director. The world hasn't changed a bit."

"Do you know about this?" Bruce turned to Natasha, who just gave him a look.

"You wanna think about removing yourself from this environment, doctor?"

"I was in Calcutta," Bruce pointed out, crossing his arms "I was pretty well removed."

"Loki's manipulating you."

"And you've been doing what, exactly?"

"Did you know about this?" Steve asked Katie as he turned towards her, eyebrows narrowed slightly.

"What? No." She assured him. "I don't know everything about S.H.I.E.L.D. just because I was there when it was formed. I've been trying to stay away, actually."

"Then what brought you back?"

Katie looked up at Steve through her lashes. He knew what brought her back, but the way his eyes pinched together and the way he was holding himself told Katie that now wasn't the best time for witty comments.

"I'd like to know," Bruce spoke up as Steve and Katie continued to stare at each other. "Why S.H.I.E.L.D. is using the Tesseract to build weapons of mass destruction."

Nick sighed, looking more pissed off with every passing second before he pointed to Thor and told them how it was because of Thor's visit to Earth that made them realize how out gunned they were.

"A nuclear deterrent," Tony snorted. "Cause that always calms everything right down."

"Remind me again how you made your fortune, Stark?"

"Technically, it's his father's fortune." Katie stepped in, causing Nick to point a finger at her.

"You. Stay out of this."

"I've tried." Katie glared at him, stepping forward. "But for some reason, you keep wanting to drag me back into _all this_."

"Forgive me for thinking it would be a good idea to let you know your father was alive."

"Guys, S.H.I.E.L.D. needs to be ready for a threat." Natasha tried to reassure them all. "They need some control."

Thor let out a dry laugh. "You speak of control, yet you cause chaos."

"It's his MO., isn't it," Bruce spoke up, truing to Nick as everyone fell silent. "I mean, what are we, a team? No, no, no. We're a chemical mixture that makes chaos. We're… we're a time-bomb."

"You need to step away," Nick gave Bruce a look, his hand resting on his gun.

"Why shouldn't they guy let off a little steam?" Tony spoke up from behind Katie.

"You know damn well why." Steve turned to Tony with a glare. "You're putting everyone here in danger by trying to make him snap."

"You humans are all petty," Thor told them all. "And tiny…"

"You're a laboratory experiment, Rogers." Tony stepped towards Steve. "Everything special about you came out of a bottle."

Steve glared even harder at Tony, both of them getting in each other's faces as Katie walked over to them.

"Okay," She raised an eyebrow at Tony. "Really, Stark?"

"Oh, you stay out of this," Tony turned his glare onto Katie, obliviously hostile like everyone else. "You're no better. At least Pops here was a _planned _experiment."

Katie took a step backwards, taken back as she eyes went wide with hurt and she gave Tony an unbelieving look, his words ringing around in her head.

Tony, however, just realized what he said before his eyes went hard again and Steve cut him off as he was about to speak.

"Hey," Steve stepped in front of Katie slightly as he spoke up. "Leave her out of this, Stark."

Katie knew that she was pissed off and overly angry right now - what the hell was happening to them? - but she couldn't help by turn to Steve and take her angry out on him.

"I can handle myself."

Steve looked taken back by the harsh sound of Katie's voice and her glare that was now directed at him. However, his shock soon turned into confusion and anger as he narrowed his eyes slightly at his daughter.

"Sorry. I didn't know you didn't like people sticking up for you," Steve told her harshly, but it only caused Katie to glare at him a bit harder. "I mean, I don't know you, right?"

Katie snorted. "Yeah, well. Did you ever think I don't want you to know me?"

Steve was once again shocked for a moment, but everyone so was worked up now that the angry just came right back. "Well, sorry I just assumed you'd want to know your own father-"

Katie knew that they were all very hostile right now, and she also knew she was really pissed for some unknown reason. The pain in her chest was too much and she just couldn't take it anymore. She couldn't stop the words from leaving her mouth.

"I don't_ want_ to know you!"

The room fell silent as the words left Katie mouth a little louder then she might for it to be.

Taking a deep breath, Katie crossed her arms as she spoke.

"I don't need a father, or anyone, okay?" Katie looked up at Steve, who was just staring at her. "I've been on my own for over thirty years. I don't need someone to look after me and treat me like a baby. You missed all those years."

Silence fell around the room. She didn't know how long it stayed, but it seemed like forever before she heard Bruce mumble something about some team they were. The whole time, Katie and Steve stared at each other.

She knew by the look on Steve's face and in his eyes that she just broke his heart. She could see the pieces breaking and feel the pain as if it was her own. And maybe it was. But, she just couldn't stop the words from leaving her mouth. And now, more than anything, she wished she could take them back.

Katie couldn't even look at Steve anymore as everyone around them started to argue again, getting more and more heated. Bruce started to snap a little, the scepter suddenly in his hands and that's when everyone realized why they were acting like this. As Bruce began to describe how he was indestructible, they all became aware of the power and manipulation of the weapon.

"Sorry kids guess you won't be seeing my party trick after all," Bruce told them, walking over to one of the computers that was locating of the Tesseract.

"Located the Tesseract?" Thor wondered as Tony spoke up.

"I can get there faster." Tony spoke up.

"The Tesseract belongs on Asgard." Thor pinched his eyes together. "No human is a match for it."

"You're not going alone!" Steve grabbed Tony by the arm to stop him from walking out the door, but Tony pulled his arm free.

"You gonna stop me?"

"Put on the suit, let's find out."

Katie stood there, listening as Steve and Tony argued back and forth, but she wasn't about stop it this time. Not after what happened last time she tried to help.

Slowly lifting her eyes, Katie found Natasha watching her with a concerned, yet hard look. Katie know Natasha was worried about her, but she was also going to get a mouth-full from the red-head. But, Katie couldn't help what she said, she'd said it in the heat of the moment.

Taking a deep breath Katie started to make her way over to Natasha as Steve and Tony continued to true behind her.

"I'm not afraid to hit an old man."

"Put on the suit."

"Oh my god."

Bruce's voice caused Katie to stop a few feet away from Natasha, as the two women, Thor and Nick gave him a look. Tony and Steve too into their argument to even realize he said something.

However, Bruce only just lifted his eyes to look at them when Katie was suddenly hit by a wave of heat and was flown backwards.

* * *

><p><strong>Just wanna say thank-you to the ever amazing <strong>_**Tospringe **_**for helping me out with this chapter/story. And I also want to say a big thank-you to all of you readers for continuing to enjoy this story!**

**Now, unfortunately there may not be a new chapter next week. My grandfather is in the hospital and it's not looking to good. So, depending on everything, there my be new chapter next week, there may not. But, I will get it up to you guys as soon as possible! **

**FOLLOW ME: Twitter: LovingAwkward Tumblr: lovingandawkward (Links in profile)**

**Keep the reviews/favs/follows coming! Love you all, xoxo**


	9. Long Stretch of Love

_Long Stretch of Love - Lady Antebellum._

_"There's nothing I value more than the closeness of friends and family, a smile as I pass someone on the street." - Willie Stargell._

* * *

><p>It only took Steve and Tony a few seconds to jump back up after the explosion took them out.<p>

Steve had a dazed and confused look on his face for a moment, until he quickly snapped into Captain mode. Turning to Tony, Steve was met by the same dazed look that'd been one his face a moment ago.

"Put on the suit."

Tony nodded. "Yep."

Running out of the lab, Steve and Tony ran down the hall when they suddenly heard Fury over their earpieces.

_"Hill!"_

_"It's a detonation,"_ Hill's voice called. _"Number three engine is down… Someone's gotta get outside and patch the engine."_

_"Stark, did you copy that?"_

"I'm on it." Tony replied before he looked up at Steve, who nodded before the two men took off again.

Steve ran towards engine three as Tony went to get his Iron Man suit. When he got there, he was met by the open air and wind, and the sight of a side of the Helicarrier blown away, engine three not moving.

Steve stood there for a moment, trying to figure out how in the world they were going to get it to move again. He quickly remembered everything he read and saw about Tony's Iron Man suit though, realizing Tony would have no problem getting it to work again.

Steve didn't think he himself would be much help with this project, all of this technically was still somewhat over his head.

As he was standing there a sudden thought hit him hard in the stomach.

Where was Katie?

She'd been standing away from him when the explosion happened, and she'd been pretty close to Natasha, so hopefully, she was with the red-head. Natasha would probably take care of her. They seemed like good friends.

"_I can handle myself."_

Katie's words suddenly came back to Steve and his chest suddenly hurt. Not as bad as it had felt when she'd first said those words, but still painful.

He knew Katie could take care of herself, she grew up with S.H.I.E.L.D., had Peggy as her mother and she had the serum in her DNA. Plus, though Steve didn't fully trust Nick Fury, he knew that the director wouldn't have asked Katie to join the team if she couldn't handle herself.

But still, the protective father side of him was worried like hell. A small part of Steve was somewhat glad he hadn't been around when Katie was growing up, cause he was sure his nerves would've been shot.

"_I don't want to know you!"_

This actually wasn't new information for Steve at all. He'd figured that much when he didn't hear anything from his daughter for three weeks. But, hearing the words actually leave her mouth, it stung.

In a way, he felt like he failed. He failed Peggy, and he failed Katie. Steve knew that he'd been frozen for seventy years and there was nothing he could've done about that. But, if he'd never put the plane in the water…

Steve shook his head. That was the past and there was nothing he could do about anything that had already happened.

"Ready, Cap?"

His eyes snapped up, only to see Tony floating a few feet away from him in his Iron Man suit.

Tony must have noticed the unfocused look on Steve's face, because he suddenly spoke up with an uncertain voice.

"Listen, Rogers. About earlier-"

"Later. We need to get this engine running again." Steve told him, and Tony nodded inside his suit before flying over to the engine.

"Okay. Let's see what we got," Tony said. "I gotta get this super conducting cooling system back online before I can access the rotors and work on dislodging the debris."

Steve nodded, slightly confused but following for the most part.

"I need you to get to that engine control panel," Tony turned to Steve, pointing to Steve's far left. "And tell me which relays are in overload position."

Steve nodded again, more sure of himself this time as he turned to his left, seeing that the only way for him to get to the control panel was to jump.

Stepping back a few steps, Steve pushed all thought of Katie out of his mind. He'd deal with her later.

Getting a running start, Steve jumped over to the other landing, grabbing onto the rail as he pulled himself over and ran over to the control panel.

_"What's it look like in there?"_ Steve heard Tony's voice ask in his ear.

"It seems to run on some form of electricity." He dryly replied. Honestly, what did Tony expect?

_"Well, you're not wrong."_, Tony seemed to realize the same thing.

* * *

><p>The first thing Katie felt was coldness. She was lying face down on something pretty chilly. The next thing she felt was pain in her right shoulder. <em>Probably because I just freaking landed on it.<em> She thought bitterly as she slowly opened her eyes, groaning.

Carefully, Katie pushed herself up off the floor, the pain in her shoulder becoming more intense because of the pressure she put on it. It wasn't broken, that was for sure. It was just given a really big smack when she'd landed on it. She knew that the pain would go away in a few minutes, she just had to stretch it.

She also knew, that somehow, someone just blew up the Helicarrier.

Looking around slowly, Katie saw a number of differently sized pipes. There were also a number of ladders around, all leading to different rails and landing. She was probably in one of the lower levels of the Helicarrier.

Taking a breath, Katie started to roll her shoulder to try to lessen the pain. Because of her peaked human healing, it wouldn't hurt for long, but that didn't mean it still didn't hurt like a bitch now.

Katie had just taken off her jacket because it restricted her from stretching her shoulder, leaving her in just her boots, tight pants, and a white flowing tank top, when she suddenly realized she had no idea where Steve was, or anybody else for that matter.

Steve'd been standing near Tony, a good few feet away from Katie, when the explosion went off. This probably meant Steve was with him. She just hoped he was okay.

_But why would you care?_ A little voice said in the back of Katie's mind. _You're the heartless daughter, right?_

Katie shook her head, she couldn't think like that now. She didn't want to. She had to talk to Steve first thing when she got out of here. To explain how she felt without the power of the specter controlling her. Now was not the time to worry about it though.

The sound of a roar caused Katie to jump out of her thoughts as she spun around, when it suddenly hit her that, when the explosion went off, she'd been close to Natasha and…

_Oh, God no._

As fast as she could, Katie took off running towards the source of the roar. Running around and under pipes, she suddenly heard the sound of something _big_ hitting metal.

Turning around the corner, Katie froze. She saw the Hulk standing only a few feet away from her, his back turned to her with his fist touching a now bent piece of metal pipe.

"Get out of here."

Looking down, Katie saw Natasha lying on the ground, her foot stuck between the floor and a big, heavy piece of metal. Natasha was looking up at her with a slight glare, her teeth clenched together while she hissed at Katie.

"Go."

Shifting her glance back up at the Hulk, Katie watched as he slowly started to turn around. She knew that if she didn't help Natasha, the assassin was surely going to die. Katie wasn't about to let anyone else she cared about buy a one way ticket.

Running over to Natasha, ignoring the red-head's protests, Katie quickly lifted up the heavy chunk of metal, really thankful for her super-strength. Natasha quickly got to her feet as Katie dropped the metal pipe, just as the Hulk turned completely around. Katie made her way over to Natasha, standing next to her as they both faced the Hulk, who was watching them a few feet away.

"So," Katie spoke as she and Natasha started to back up slowly. "I think we should move our training date ahead."

"To when?" Natasha asked, never taking her eyes off the Hulk.

"I don't know. How about now?"

Katie and Natasha had just enough time to share a look before the Hulk's face turned to pure anger and let out a sudden roar, causing them to jump. The Hulk charged after them as Katie and Natasha took off as fast as their legs could carry them. Natasha leading the way, they ran up a metal set of stairs with the Hulk right on their tails.

"Jump!" Natasha yelled, looking behind Katie, who only had enough time to obey when the Hulk suddenly grabbed the stairs. The two girls jumped in sync, just as Hulk pulled the stairs out from under them. They both grabbed onto the rails above them, Natasha doing a flip over the bars as Katie pulled herself up, landing next to Natasha. Not stopping, Katie followed Natasha as she flipped over a large pipe behind them, Katie jumping over the pipe after her.

The two ran down the metal landing, now a level higher than the Hulk, but that didn't stop him from smashing the floor out from under them, just as their feet left the metal grate.

Katie followed Natasha as they reached the end of the landing before turning left, jumping down a little opening to the floor below. They continued to ran a little ways before crawling under some pipes as fast as they could.

"Do you hear that?" Katie whispered as they continued moving through and under some pipes, Natasha still in the lead.

Natasha listened for a moment, coming to a stop. "No."

"Exactly." Katie nodded. "It's quiet."

Looking around, Natasha slowly took out her gun, holding it in front of her as she started to move again.

"Right," Katie rolled her eyes. "Like that's gonna stop him."

Natasha shot Katie a look before turning back around, silence falling around them as they made their way away the pipes. As they turned the corner, a roar sounded behind them, causing both girls to jump and spin around. Natasha didn't miss a beat as she shot her gun at the pipe above the Hulk, causing stream to hit him in the face.

"Never mind, I take it back." Katie said before they both took off running, this time Katie in the lead.

Katie knew she shouldn't lead. She was faster than Natasha, meaning the Hulk would catch the red-head in no time. Plus, though she would be slowed down with Natasha leading, Katie healed faster than Natasha did… If she wasn't killed first.

"Go," Katie came to a stop just as they reached a narrowed pathway. "You go first."

Natasha looked at Katie with slightly wide-eyes. "What?"

A roar was echoing behind them as Katie opened her mouth, causing both girls to look back.

"Don't argue with me." Katie turned back to Natasha. "Go!"

Nodding, Natasha took off running down the pathway, with Katie right behind her just as the Hulk caught up to them. They both ran as fast as they could - well, Natasha was running as fast as she could, Katie right behind her - but they both knew it was no good. The Hulk was faster, smashing everything on his path.

Just as they were about to reach the end of the pathway, the Hulk reached Katie. He grabbed her by her tank-top that was flowing behind her before throwing her through the glass on their left, causing her to slam into the wall.

Katie hit the wall hard, causing her to groan as she hit the floor, glass all around her. It hurt like a bitch, and she could feel her body ache with every movement. She felt her eyes start to fall, but she forced them open. She wasn't about to leave Natasha to fight the Hulk herself. Katie opened her eyes just in time to see the Hulk throw Natasha into a wall, before smashing into the wall on the opposite side.

Getting up as fast as she could- and groaning as she did so - Katie started to limp her way towards Natasha just as the Hulk did so too.

However, when Katie was only a few feet away and the Hulk was just about to bring his fist down on Natasha, _something _flew towards the green monster, causing both the hulk and the thing to go through the wall.

_Thor._ Katie thought, a small smile tugging at her lips as she stood there, catching her breath. Her eyes shifted towards Natasha, and her face fell.

"Tash." Katie ran over to the red-head, kneeling in front of her. "You okay?"

Natasha looked up at the blonde with a dazed look in her eyes and on her face, before slowly nodding her head.

"Yeah." Natasha took a breath. "You?"

"I'm fine, wish I could say the same for my top though ." Katie said, looking at her back to see a jagged rip in the middle of her tank-top, flopped open so you could see her bare back a bit. "And I liked this shirt."

Natasha let out a shaky laugh, causing Katie to smile slightly.

However, Natasha's laugh was cut of suddenly and her hand flew to her ear, Katie giving her a confused look.

"I copy."

The moment she said those words, Katie realized Natasha was wearing an earpiece.

"She's here." Natasha said, her eyes flicking up to Katie, confusion taking over the blondes face once more.

"Yes…. Okay."

Natasha moved her hand from her ear and reached into her suit, pulling out another earpiece before handing it over to Katie, who looked down at it before looking back up at Natasha.

"I was about to give it to you, before we all got… distracted in the lab." Natasha told Katie, who nodded before placing it in her ear.

_"Katherine."_

Katie almost jumped at the sound of Nick's voice in her ear, not expecting to hear someone over the earpiece so soon, before she replied.

"Nick."

_"I need you to get to engine three,"_ Nick told her, getting down to business. _"Whoever set off the explosion, their men are onboard now. Stark and Rogers are out there trying to repair the engine before we go down."_

"And why do I need to go there?" Katie asked before she could stop herself, flinching when Nick spoke up.

_"Katherine."_ He basically yelled at her. _"Now is not the time."_

Katie sighed, rubbing her forehead. "I'm on my way."

Nick didn't reply as Katie looked up at Natasha, who had gone back to looking dazed, and Katie could tell she was still a bit shaken up.

However, Natasha came to enough to see the look on Katie's face.

"Go," She told the blonde woman in a slightly shaky voice. "I'm good here."

Through she was still a little unsure about leaving Natasha here by herself, Katie knew the red-head could take care of herself, so she nodded.

"I'll be back." Katie told her as she stood up causing Natasha to nod as Katie made her way to engine three.

Really, Katie had no idea where she was going. She just kept on running, making left and right turns, praying she was going in at least the right direction.

Seeing some agents running her way, Katie quickly pulled one aside and asked where engine three was. The agent pointed her in the right direction and Katie said a quick thanks before taking off again.

It didn't take her long before she arrived at a big hole in the side of the Helicarrier, the wind blowing her hair around her face the closer she got.

Katie stopped in her tracks however, as she reached the opening of the hole and saw Steve fighting a guy dressed in all black, while another was lying on the floor. The guy had no gun - it was lying a few feet away from the two - and it didn't take long for Steve to overtake the guy and throw him off the ship. However, while Steve had his back towards the other guy, the man slowly started to stand up.

Walking forward, Katie came to a stop just a few feet away from the guy just as he stood up completely.

"Hey," Katie tapped him on the shoulder, causing both him and Steve to turn around, both of them staring at her with wide eyes. "I wouldn't do that if I was you."

As the guy titled his head slightly, Katie lifted her foot and roundhouse kicked the guy right in the stomach, just as Steve stepped to the side, causing the guy to fly over the side of the Helicarrier like his partner just did.

"Thought so." Katie smirked slightly as she stood up straighter, before turning to Steve, who was watching her.

"Hi." She said softly, giving him a small smile. "Nick said you may need help."

Steve raised an eyebrow at her, and Katie could tell by the look in his eyes that he was still hurt over what she said to him earlier.

"Think I can't handle myself?"

The comment caused Katie to flinch and it stung too much for her to throw a snarky comment back.

Katie lowered her eyes as she spoke up. "Yeah, I guess I deserved that one."

Steve sighed, causing Kate to glance up at him as he ran a hand through his hair. "Look, I'm sorry if I came on to strong-"

"You didn't." Katie assured him, shaking her head. "It's just, I've been alone for so long-"

"But you aren't alone now."

Katie fell silent as she glanced up a Steve, a small smile tugging at her lips as one also formed on Steve's. Then, the metal they were standing on suddenly shifted, causing Steve and Katie to almost lose their balance.

Katie looked up to give Steve a questioning look, but his eyes were looking behind her. His face was serious, and before Katie could even open her mouth, Steve spoke up.

"Move." He pushed Katie out of the way and she turned around just in time to see Steve flick a piece of metal at a guy in the doorway that was just about to shoot at them. The guy moved to the side, out of the doorway as Steve turned and jumped, grabbing on the railing before pulling himself over, telling Katie to do the same thing.

And she was just about to, when she suddenly heard Nick's voice in her ear.

_"It's Barton. He took out our system. He's headed for the detention lab. Does anyone copy?"_

Katie heard nothing for a few seconds until Natasha's voice filled her ear.

_"This is Agent Romanoff. I copy."_

"Natasha." Katie whispered to herself, knowing how close Clint and Natasha were, and how shaken Natasha already was, this was going to be hard on her.

"Katie!"

Snapping out of her daze, Katie quickly jumped up, grabbing the rail and pulling herself over just as the guy started shooting at them again.

_"Stark, we're losing altitude!"_ Katie heard Nick say over the earpiece as Steve quickly picked up the gun that he knocked out of the guy's hands early and started shooting at the guy in the doorway, missing pretty much every time as he moved backwards.

_"I've noticed."_ Katie heard Stark say as she spun around to face Steve, who was a few feet behind her.

"Oh, give it here." She grabbed the gun out of Steve's hands as he gave her a look.

"You can shoot a gun?"

"Of course," Katie smiled even though she was facing away from Steve. "I'm Peggy Carter's daughter." Lifting the gun, Katie had it aimed right at the guys head and pulled the trigger, but nothing happened.

"Seriously!" Katie yelled, frustrated as she looked over her shoulder at Steve as she threw the gun over the railing. "Please tell me you didn't use all the bullets!"

Steve didn't have time to answer, however, because the guy down below started shooting at them again. Katie grabbed the railing with both hands as she ducked out of the way. Steve, however, had nothing to hold onto as he tried to duck out of the way of the flying bullets, moving backwards when he suddenly slipped on a lose piece of metal, falling over the side of the Helicarrier.

"Steve!" Katie yelled, her heart stopping for a moment before it started to beat faster in her chest than ever before. "Steve!"

Katie started to make her way to the side of the plane, bullets still flying at her, as she hoped and prayed that Steve, somehow, was still alive and there.

_You do NOT get to die before I even get to know you! _Katie thought when a sudden voice stopped her before she even got half way to the edge.

"I'm fine!"

Katie's eyes went wide as Steve's voice was heard from over the edge of the Helicarrier. She was about to yell back to him, ask him how the hell he was hanging on, when a bullet headed straight towards her head, and she only ducked out of the way just in time.

"Umm," Katie looked down at the guy dressed in black, before turning back around, yelling out to Steve. "Can you hang in there for a moment?"

It was silent for a few moments as Katie bit down on her bottom lip.

"I can… hang on."

Katie felt a bit of relief come over her before she quickly straightened up, turning around and walking over to the railing.

"Just," Katie shouted to Steve. "Give me a minute."

Jumping over the railing, Katie landed in a crouch just a few feet away from the man before standing up straight, staring at him as he lowered the gun a bit.

"Listen, I kind of need to rescue someone," Katie said. "So how about you drop the gun and we make it a fair fight."

He didn't gave Katie an answer, however. Instead, he just raised the gun in front of his face, pointing it at Katie's head, causing her to sigh.

"Okay then."

Katie ducked as he started firing the gun at her. Lying on the floor, Katie quickly lifted her foot and kicked the guy in the shin, causing him to take his finger off the trigger and bend down slightly. Katie quickly got to her feet and grabbed the barrel of the gun, punching the guy in the stomach, hopping he would let go.

However, instead of letting go, he swung his leg out and hooked it with Katie's, sweeping her off her feet, causing her to fly to the floor, landing flat on her back.

Now standing over Katie, the guy lifted his gun and pointed it down at her. However, just as he pulled the trigger, Katie lifted her arms, placing her hands palm down on the floor above her head and pushed herself so she slid under the guys legs, causing the bullet to hit the floor were her face was.

As Katie got to her feet and spun around, the man turned at the same time. He was a beat too late however, and the moment he faced her, Katie punched him square in the face, causing him the fly backwards and land hard on his back.

"I told you," Katie walked over to the now unconscious guy, taking the gun out of his hands and throwing it over the side of the Helicarrier. "Should of dropped the gun."

Suddenly, Katie heard Tony's voice in her ear, and it was then that it clicked in her mind. The Helicarrier was no longer falling, if fact, they had gained altitude.

_"Cap pull the lever."_

_"I need a minute here!"_

Katie could only guess by the sound of Steve's voice that he was struggling to get back onto the Helicarrier, so she quickly looked around for whatever lever Tony was talking about before her eyes landed on a red one on the landing above.

"Is the lever red?" Katie asked into her earpiece.

_"Yes!"_ Tony said frantically. "_Someone pull it."_

Katie nodded, even though she knew Tony couldn't see her, and quickly made her way towards the lever. Before she could reach it though, she was suddenly pulled backwards with a great force. The sound of ripping fabric filled her ears as she slammed into the floor, the guy in black standing before her.

"Come on," Katie pushed herself up off the floor, felling the cold wind on the lower half of her back. "I could have fixed the rip before."

The man just stepped toward Katie, ready to hit her. However, when he was only a short span away, Katie side kicked him in the stomach, just hard enough to send him flying back a bit. She then walked forward and grabbed him by the shoulders, kneeing him in the stomach a few times, causing him the bend over.

The guy, however, came to his senses a bit quicker then Katie thought he would. He quickly countered her by punching her hard in the lower stomach, causing Katie to let go of him and fall to her knees.

Suddenly, he turned around as she doubled over on the ground. And it was then that Katie saw Steve making his way to the lever.

The man started to make his way towards Steve when Katie glared at him, standing up and quickly wrapping her arms around his neck, holding him in a chock hold. But the guy then flipped Katie over his shoulder, causing her to be slammed on her back, hard. Again.

She laid there for a moment, groaning, before to guy lifted her up roughly and slammed her into the wall, holding her by the throat.

"Pretty girls like you shouldn't be fighting big guys like me."

It was the first and only thing Katie heard him say, and if her lungs weren't starting to hurt, she would have said something.

Then, out of the corner of her eye, she saw Steve pull the lever before looking over and starting to quickly come his way over to her. However, Katie then heard the sound of jets, and she knew Tony was on his way.

Instead of saying anything, Katie just gave him a smirk as she lifted her knee and kneed him where it hurt. He let go of Katie and she fell to her knees. Just as he backed away, Tony came flying through the side of the Helicarrier, slamming into the guy full force so both to land outside the doorway.

Silence filled the air around them as Katie stood there, on her hands and knees, catching her breath, when a hand suddenly appeared in front of her.

Looking up, Katie was met by Steve's eyes looking down at her. There was a small smile on his face, but his eyes were serious. He stretched his hand out towards her.

Katie gladly took it and he helped her to her feet.

"You okay?"

Katie nodded her head, giving him a small smile. "I'm fine, you?"

Steve shrugged. "I hung in there."

Katie let out a light laugh as Tony made his way in through the doorway, his suit all beat and banged up and his face mask and helmet off.

"Well," He panted as he walked up to Steve and Katie. "I think we make a good team."

Both father and daughter gave Tony a hard look, and he held up his hands in mock surrender.

"Don't do that," Tony said, referring to how much both Rogers's looked alike when they pulled that face, before he sighed. "Look, about what I said earlier. I'm-"

However, Tony's words were cut off as Nick's voice came over their earpieces, and Katie felt her whole body go cold. Everything around her seemed to move in slow motion as she felt her knees go weak. Steve and Tony froze next to her as Katie had to place her hand on the side of the Helicarrier, to keep her from falling over. Then only thing she could hear was Nick's words ringing in her ears.

_"Agent Coulson is down."_

* * *

><p><strong>I'd like to d<strong>**edicate**** this chapter to my Poppy Power, who passed away this past Friday. RIP Poppy, you will forever be loved and missed.**


	10. Talladega

_Talladega - Eric Church._

"_Cherish your human connections - your relationships with friends and family." - Barbara Bush. _

* * *

><p><span><em>December 17th, 1991.<em>

_Katie sighed as she opened the door to her little apartment in London, England. She closed the door behind her softly before resting against it, lightly banging her head on the wood._

_It'd been a hard day at work. Sure, she only worked at a small coffee shop, but people got damn hostile when they didn't get their coffee in time. On top of that, she had to walk home in the middle of a bloody snow storm, and she lived about twenty minutes away from the shop where she worked. And last but not least, she'd had a late shift so it was now after eleven at night._

_Thank God she was now off until the New Year._

_Katie booked it off. She decided, seeing that it'd been years, she was going to visit her Uncle Howard for Christmas. He didn't know of course. She was going to surprise him, and his wife Maria and little Tony. Though he wasn't little anymore, as he would be about seventeen by now. She also planned on visiting her mother for New Years, since it'd been a year or so since she'd last seen her._

_Twelve years. Tony had been five. That was the last time Katie had seen Howard in person._ _She couldn't keep the smile off her face just thinking about it, she was so excited._

_Pushing herself off the door, Katie walked into her small apartment, dropping her keys on the table and pulling her hair out of its pony tail._

_She was planning on taking a nice, long bath before packing for the night. She couldn't wait to get out of her uniform and never have to put it back on for a few weeks._

_However, just as Katie was halfway down the hall and on her way to the bathroom, her phone rang, catching her off guard._

_Narrowing her eyes, Katie looked over at the phone on the counter for a moment before making her way slowly towards it. The only reason she got the phone was so Howard and her mother could call her, but she didn't think she would be hearing from them tonight…_

_Staring the phone with each step, almost like it would attack her, Katie walked up to it and sighed, her face relaxing as she recognized the number._

"_Mum," Katie answered the phone, laughing lightly. "You scared me. Do you know-"_

"Katie_."_

_The sound of her mother's voice, scratchy like she hadn't used it in a while, caused Katie to stop, frozen in her spot as her eyes narrowed ever so slightly._

"_Mum?" She said slowly after a few moments. "What is it?"_

"_There's…" Peggy's voice cracked a little before she carried on. "There's, been an accident."_

"_An accident?" Katie questioned, panic started to settle in. "Mum, are you okay? Are you-"_

"_No, no. I'm, I'm fine." Peggy assured her daughter. "It's Howard and Maria. And Jarvis."_

_Katie froze on the spot, her world seeming to freeze as Peggy fell silent. Katie knew, she knew before her mother had even said the words. But she didn't want to believe it. Not when Ches was gone, and most - if not all- of the Howling Commandos, and everyone else Katie grew up with, not when Howard, Jarvis and her mother were the only ones she had left._

_She slowly backed up before she hit a wall, her mind racing as she slide down it and sat on the floor in her suddenly cold and dark apartment. And Katie sat there and waited, waited for her mother to say the words she didn't want to believe, the words that made it seem like her world had actually stopped._

_"Katie," Peggy took a breath as Katie closed her eyes, tears welling up behind her eyelids. "They're gone, Katie."_

_Present Day_

The world had felt like it stopped spinning as Tony and Steve followed Katie down the winding hallways and towards the main area of the Helicarrier.

She wouldn't believe it. She would not believe the words Nick had just said over her earpiece. She had to see Nick in person, he had to tell her to her face.

She couldn't lose someone else.

Racing towards the double doors that lead to the main area of the Helicarrier, Katie threw them open, only to be met with an image that looked like how she felt. A total disaster.

Sections were blown up, computers were in pieces, small fires being put under control. Just about everyone was trying to clean up the big mess. Well, everyone besides Nick and Maria, who stood by the meeting table, talking quietly with each other.

Slowly, Katie made her way towards them, Steve and Tony behind her.

The captain tried to talk to her before she took off, but Katie didn't listen to him. She didn't _want_ to listen to him. She didn't want to listen to anyone. Steve seemed to realize that she wasn't in a talking mood and stayed behind her the whole way as she raced to Nick, with Tony right behind them.

Making her way up the few stairs that lead to the table, one step at a time, Katie could feel tears already starting to form in her eyes, but she refused to let them fall.

Just as they reached the top step Nick turned around to face Katie, Maria stepping back to give them some room.

Katie looked up at Nick with watery eyes, wanting him so badly to tell her it was all a joke. Phil would walk out, smiling at her but also blushing slightly because he was in the same room as Captain America. And then Katie would make a joke, causing him to blush even more…

But the look on Nick's face told it all, and Katie shifted her eyes down, to see some Captain America cards in Nick's hand. Katie instantly recognized them, especially one. The one she personally gave to Phil. It was stained with blood.

"Nick…" Katie basically begged as she shifted her gaze back up to the man in front of her, but Nick just looked down at the cards.

Katie wasn't going to believe it. Not until Nick told her the words in person, and Nick knew that. So, taking a deep breath, Nick looked back up at the blonde woman in front of him, an unreadable look on his face.

"He's gone, Katie."

Katie took in a shaky breath as the words left Nick's mouth, a tear running down her cheek as Tony, Steve and Maria looked down, everyone silent.

One tear fell, then another, and another, and before Katie knew it, she had a river running down her cheeks.

As she took in a shaky breath, only to have it get caught in her throat, Katie turned and ran out of the room, the will to be alone stronger than it ever was before. The last time she'd felt like this was the night her mother called her and said that Howard was gone.

Part of her was award that Steve started to head after her, but as she ran through the main doors, no one was behind her. She didn't stop running.

* * *

><p>"<em>No one is leaving you, Katie. I promise."<em>

Katie let out a dry laugh as Phil's words echoed around is his head. He'd said those words to her a month ago, the night she talked to Steve for the first time. It felt like forever ago, and maybe it was. Either way, Phil was now gone. She was never going to be able to joke with him again, or laughing with him. Phil was one of the only - if not _the_ only, besides Natasha and Clint? - S.H.I.E.L.D. agent that she liked, that was her friend.

A tear still fell down Katie's face every now and then as she stood by herself in some unknown part of the Helicarrier. To be fair though, it wasn't like it would be hard to find her. After she'd left the main area, Katie had just run straight down the hall and through the doors at the end of it, which was where she was now.

"You lied to me, Phil." Katie spoke in a raspy voice, looking up at the ceiling as her hands griped a railing in front of her. "You told me no one was going to leave me." Looking down at the floor, Katie closed her eyes tight as she let out a sob. "You promised."

"Sometimes, it's hard to keep promises."

Katie spun around only for her red, wet blue eyes to met Steve. She didn't say anything though, as she spun back around, looking down at her hands that still held onto the rails.

She could hear Steve as he slowly walked over to stand next to her, like he was unsure of himself, which he probably was.

The two stood there is silence for a long while. At least, that was what it felt like to Katie. Until she finally took in a shaky breath, looking straight ahead as she spoke.

"He could have tried harder."

"Maybe," Steve shrugged, also looking straight in front of him, at nothing really. "But sometimes, things just happen."

Katie didn't have a responses to that as she glanced down at her hands, playing with her fingers as if they were the most interesting things in the world.

"I once made a promise," Steve spoke up in a soft voice, still looking ahead while Katie looked down. "To your mother."

At these words, Katie couldn't help but glance up a little, not at Steve, but straight ahead as she continued to listen. The tears had stopped.

"I… I promised her a dance," Steve said as he looked down. "While the plane was going down. I was talking to Peggy. I promised her a dance." Steve passed for a moment, Katie listening on as a warm feeling filled her stomach, before he continued. "We both knew there would be none. But… but I still promised her. And I broke that promise."

Katie stood there in silence as she glanced back down at her hands. She knew that story, she knew it inside and out. Peggy had told it to her when she was old enough to understand the whole situation. But, it was different, having her father's point of view on it.

She liked it when her father told her stories.

Taking a deep breath, Katie closed her eyes for a moment before she opened them and looked straight ahead.

"I'm," Katie cleared her throat. "I'm sorry about what I said earlier."

Steve sighed as he turned, now facing Katie. "It's fine-"

"No," Katie finally turned so she was looking at her father. "No. It's not." Running a hand through her hair, Katie continued. "I'm not heartless, just so you know. I do have reasons why I wouldn't talk to you."

Confusion took over Steve's face as he pinched his eyebrows together and tilted his head slightly. "I know, and I understand that."

"I told you I'd been on my own for thirty years," Katie said, continuing on as if Steve never spoke. "Well, I've been alone for so long that I don't know how to _not _be alone. Earlier, earlier I had mum, and Uncle Howard, and Jarvis, and Ches, and the Howling Commandos, and everyone at S.H.I.E.L.D., but, they all grew old while I stayed young." Katie sighed, turning back around so she was gripping the railing again. "They died, and I was left alone. I still have mum, but I can't even see her a lot anymore without people getting suspicious about my aging."

Steve also turned around towards the railing, but his eyes never left Katie as he listened to her, watching her as she stared straight ahead.

Katie suddenly let out a dry laugh.

"This is what happens when I let people in," Katie said suddenly. "They all leave one way or another. Even Phil is gone now, and he's the first one that pushed me to have this talk with you."

Silence fell around the father and daughter as Katie looked down at her hands. Steve was thinking over what she just said. He knew she had problems with letting people in, and it took him a few moments before he could figure out the right thing to say.

"Katie," He finally spoke up, breaking the silence and turning to Katie as she glance up at him. "I don't expect you to let me in right away. I didn't expect us to meet and then become father and daughter. I know this is going to take time, for both of us. But, I _do_ want to get to know you."

"But, I don't want to be a disappointment and cause you to leave." Katie asked softly.

The statement took Steve aback for a moment, before he digested what she was saying and his heart broke a little.

"Hey," Reaching across the railing, Steve gripped Katie's hand with his, seeing her go tense for a moment before she relaxed and glanced up at him. "I know for sure that you are far from a disappointment, and I'm not going to leave you, okay? I… I missed you growing up, some very important parts of you growing up. I'm not about to miss anymore just because you may think you're a disappointment."

Disbelief took over Katie's face as she looked up at Steve with wide eyes, a warm feeling taking over her body after hearing Steve say these words.

However, Katie sighed, and Steve could still see some uncertainty in her eyes.

"I'm not going to hurt you, Katie." He assured her, giving her hand a squeeze. "I want to get to know my daughter. And, I know we aren't just going to jump into being family right away-"

Something then snapped in Katie, and she realized how much she did want to know her father. She almost lost him _again_ today when her fell off the side of the helicarrier. She was given a chance to know him, to have a father, and she suddenly felt like an idiot for pushing him away in the first place.

"I'd like that," Katie gave him a small smile. "Getting to know each other."

"Good, cause I like that too." Steve smiled back. "But, you aren't going to leave now and not talk to me for three weeks, are you?"

Katie couldn't help but let out a laugh. "No," She shook her head. "I won't. Sorry about that."

Steve, however, shook his head. "Let's just forget about all the negative stuff that happened the past few weeks."

"Sounds good."

Katie felt like a weight was just lifted off her shoulders. She felt lighter, lighter than she did the past few days, few years maybe even. She was finally going have a family. Well, not yet, but someday. She was finally making her way to having a family again.

_Thank you Phil_. Katie thought. _You did this, you made this happen._

And he really did. Phil tried to push the need for Katie to talk to her father. And she finally did, and she felt lighter. If only Phil hadn't have to die to make it happen…

Thinking of Phil brought back the reason they were all on the Helicarrier in the first place, causing Katie to turn around, before looking back up at Steve.

"Where is everyone?"

However, just as Steve was about to answer, a voice was heard as footsteps came through the doorway.

"Can I come in now?"

Both Rogers's turned to the doorway to see Tony - out of his Iron Man suit - slowly entering the room.

"Is all the family lovey-dovey stuff over with?"

"Yes, Stark." Steve answered as he rolled his eyes and Katie let out a laugh.

"Good," Tony smirked a little before walking completely into the room, stopping a few feet away from Katie and Steve.

"Listen," Tony said, the smirk falling as her turned to Katie. "About what I said a few hours ago, in the lab-"

"Don't." Katie shook her head. "We all said things we didn't mean, it's fine, Tony."

Giving her a small smile, Tony couldn't help but let the last two words leave his mouth. Maybe, Katie thought, it was because he really did felt bad about what he said.

"I'm sorry."

Katie gave Tony a small smile, which he returned before his face became serious and he looked between both Katie and Steve. "Now, we need to get down to business."

Katie nodded. "Where's everyone else?" She asked, looking between Steve and Tony.

"Natasha is helping Clint recover," Tony informed her. "She smacked him hard over the hard to snap him out of it. Wish I was there to see it…"

"We don't know where Thor and Bruce are," Steve added. "The both fell out of the Helicarrier."

Katie nodded. She was a little worried for them, but she knew it was the Hulk that fall out of the sky, so Bruce would be fine. And Thor was a god, so she kind of guessed he was okay too.

"What do we do now?" Tony asked, a look of concern on his face as he thought out loud and started pacing.

"Loki needs a power source," Steve answer, and Katie was amazed how well these two worked together even though they weren't that fond of one another. "If we can put together a list…"

Tony suddenly froze. "He made it personal."

The moment the words left his mouth, Katie started to understand what Tony was saying as images of Phil and everyone she lost flashing in her mind, while Steve looked confused.

"That's not the point."

"That is the point." Tony argued back. "That's Loki's point."

"He hit us all right where we live," Katie explained, looking up at Steve who nodded slowly.

"Yeah, to tear us apart."

"He had to conquer his greed," Tony continued on, pacing back and forth. "But he knows he had to take us out to win, right? That's what he wants. He wants to beat us, he wants to be seen doing it."

"He wants an audience." Katie added, understanding with Tony was getting at as Steve spoke up.

"Right, I caught his act in Stuttgart."

"Yeah, but that's just the preview," Tony stopped in front of them. "This is… This is opening night. And Loki, he's a full-tail diva. He wants flowers, he wants parades. He wants a monument built to the skies-"

"With his name on it." Katie cut Tony off, and all three of them shared a look, realization hitting all three of them at once.

"You _are_ the only name in clean energy right now." Steve said, causing Tony to snap out of his daze.

"Son of a bitch."

* * *

><p>Katie and Steve walked down the hallway towards the recovery rooms, trying to find Natasha and Clint, as Tony went off to "treat himself to some TLC", as he said.<p>

As they walked through the halls, Katie suddenly realized that she still hadn't asked Nick what they were fighting.

Guess now was a good a time as any to ask.

"So," Katie clear her throat slightly as she walked side by side with Steve. "What exactly are we up against?"

Steve glanced over at Katie, eyebrow pinched slightly. "You don't know?"

"No," Katie shook her head. "I mean, I know about Loki and the Tesseract, and that he plans on opening a portal with it. But that's all I know. I was going to ask Nick about it, but, we kind of exploded."

"Well, you're right," Steve said as the turned another corner. "He's opening a portal to let his army though. Thor said they are called the Chitauri, and they aren't from Asgard."

"Ah, lovely." Katie sighed just as they reached the recovery rooms. "Okay, you look in the rooms on the right, I'll take the left."

Steve nodded and they both stared walking down the hall, slowing down when they reached a door to look through the window, trying to find Natasha and Clint. Thankfully, it didn't take too long before Steve called over to Katie, saying he found them.

Katie walked over and stood next to Steve as he opened the door, showing Natasha standing straight in her black suit.

"Time to go." Steve nodded at her and Natasha's eyes flicked between father and daughter.

"Go where?"

"We know where Loki is going to be," Katie informed her. "You okay?"

Natasha nodded. "Fine. You?"

Katie gave her nodded just as Steve spoke up again. "Can you fly one of those jets?"

Natasha flicked her eyes back to Steve and, just as she was about to open her mouth, the door to the bathroom opened and Clint Barton walked out.

"I can." He said before he turned to the blonde woman, giving her a nod. "Katie."

"Clint." Katie returned to the nod with a small smile.

"You got a suit?" Steve asked Clint, and when he nodded, Steve continued. "Then suit up. Me and Katie will meet you both on the landing deck."

"Hold up," Natasha spoke up, causing the other three to turn to her. "Katie, you're coming with me."

"What?" Katie titled her head slightly. "Why?"

"You aren't fighting in that."

Katie looked down at her outfit, and it was only then that she remembered when she was wearing. She was in a pair of dirty, dark pants and boots, along with a strained and dirty white tank-top that had half the back ripped out of it.

"Nat," Clint spoke up. "Now is not that time for fashion tips."

"This isn't about fashion," Natasha glanced over at him before looking back at Katie. "This is for her own safety. The Hulk threw you around like a rag doll because of that shirt."

"Natasha's right," Steve spoke up just as Katie opened her mouth, causing her to look up at him. "That guy you were fighting by the engine also through you into the wall because her got a hold of your shirt.

"Okay, you're right." Katie turned back to Natasha. "I take it you have an outfit?"

"I don't, but someone else does." Natasha told her before turning to the two boys. "We'll only be a minute. Head towards the landing deck and we'll meet you there."

Clint and Steve nodded as Natasha walked out of the room, Katie following her as they walked down the hallway.

After just a few minutes of walking, Katie still had no clue where they were going until they reached a hall that had a number of doors on each side.

After walking to the end of the hall, Natasha turned and opened the door to a room. It wasn't very big and looked much like an office. It also didn't take Katie long to see Phil's name written on a gold plaque on the desk.

Katie turned to Natasha with questioning eyes, but the red-head just walked over to the filing cabinet behind the desk and against the back wall.

Katie watched as Natasha bent down and opened the bottom cabinet, only to pull out a nice size suitcase and place it on the desk, looking but at Katie who had a confused look on her face.

"What's this?" Katie questioned as she slowly walked towards the desk.

"Open it."

Narrowing her eyes at Natasha, Katie looked down at the suitcase before pulling it towards her. Slowing, Katie opened it, causing the top of the suitcase to fly open and her eyes went wide as they landed on the suit that was inside.

"Phil designed it. He wanted my input on some of the features, that's how I know about it." Natasha explained. "I guess he believed in you more then you believed in herself."

"Yeah, I guess so." Katie gave a small, sad smile, before she turned to Natasha. "Time to suit up."

* * *

><p><strong>And the action starts next chapter!<strong>

**As always, special thanks going out to _Tospringe _for helping me out with this chapter and just being all around amazing. And also big thanks to all you guys for continuing to read and enjoy this story!**

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	11. Little Toy Guns

_Little Toy Guns - Carrie Underwood._

"_The family is the nucleus of civilization." - Will Durant._

* * *

><p>"What? Did Red and Mini-Cap quit on us?"<p>

Steve and Clint turned around only to find Tony walking towards them, dressed in his Iron Man suit, which still looked pretty banged up.

After Natasha and Katie left the recovery room a few moments ago, Clint and Steve quickly made their way to the armory, where Steve grabbed his shield and Clint got his bow and arrows. After that, they headed towards the quinjets.

They were now waiting outside the door. And really, they'd only been standing there for a few short moments before Tony showed up.

"Natasha took Katie to suit up." Clint informed Tony, who simple raised his eyebrow but didn't say anything else as he leaned against the wall.

Steve, meanwhile stood there with his mind reeling, adrenaline pumping through his veins. After all, this was all still new to him and, now that he and Katie were on a good path - at least he thought they were - he couldn't help but worry, even just a bit.

Katie and Steve, they could both get _really_ hurt. Both father and daughter weren't gods or had the safety of an iron suit. Really, they were just humans, though with perfect physiques. Okay, Natasha and Clint were human too, but they were trained for this.

Did he worry too much? Was this the protective father side of him that he did know he had?

Steve may not know Katie very well, and they may not be on 'father, daughter terms' yet, but would he bail on the team to save her? He didn't know. He knew Katie could handle herself. In fact, she was probably more suited for the job then he was right now. After all, she had different training and had probably even trained longer than Steve.

However, before Steve could think anymore on the subject, Clint spoke up.

"About time."

Turning around, all three men found Natasha and Katie walking towards them, Katie too now dressed far better suited for the upcoming situation.

Gone were the dirty pants and ripped tank top. Now, Katie was dressed in a black suit similar to Natasha's but there were differences. Instead of a zipper in front, Katie's had a turtle neck. The S.H.I.E.L.D. logo was on her left shoulder, and a gold star in the middle of her chest. Similar to the Captain America uniform, black and white stripes went down her stomach. On her feet were a pair of black boots, and she wore a pair of finger-less gloves on her hands. She had two gun holsters, one around her hips and one around her right thigh while her long blonde hair was now in a French braid down her back, a few strands falling around her face.

Tony let out a low whistle.

"You're really playing with the whole 'mini-cap' image, you know that right?" He said to her with a smirk tugging at her lips.

"I don't really want to be thrown around like a doll again." Katie smiled slightly, looking down at her outfit . "Plus, Phil designed it."

Upon hearing that Phil designed the outfit, a small smile pulled at Steve's lips as Katie met his eyes, a smile on her face.

"We have to get to New York," Natasha stated as she walked up to the door and pulled it open.

Tony quickly explained to them that he was going to fly over to the tower - "No doubt reindeer games is already there by now" as Tony said, while the hovered to the plane.

"What are you going to do once you get to the tower?" Katie asked.

"Try to reason with the God."

Natasha looked over at Tony with an raised eyebrow. "And you really think that will work?"

"Don't worry," Tony flashed her a smile. "That's Plan A, I have a Plan B too."

"We'll be right behind you," Clint told him, and Tony nodded once more before turning around and walking towards the end of the landing deck.

As Tony took off into the air, the others entered the plane. A young man was sitting up front and he heard them come aboard, causing him to stand up and turn around, walking towards them.

"You guys aren't authorized to be in here."

"Son," Steve gave him a look. "Just don't."

The young man paused for a moment as he looked over Katie, Natasha and Clint. All their faces stone-cold serious, before he realized that it wasn't the best idea to argue with 'Earth's Mightiest Heroes' and quickly walked off the plane.

Natasha and Clint quickly walked up to the front and took their seats, closing up the drop door as Katie raised an eyebrow at Steve, who gave her a confused look.

"What?"

"Son?" Katie said, a smile tugging at her lips. "How old are you?"

Steve let out a laugh as the plane started to take off.

"You're one to talk," Clint spoke up from the front, plane now in the air. "Grandma."

"Shut up, Robin Hood." Katie shot back, and she could hear Natasha let out a low laugh from her seat.

However, the laugher and jokes soon died down. Once the plane was fully in the air and on the way to New York, seriousness took its place as the weight of what was about to happen settled in on their minds.

Katie thought over everything that had happened in the past few days. One moment, Nick was sitting in her apartment, telling her about the Avengers. And now here she was, standing on a plane in a spandex suit, on the way to stop a super villain.

In the middle of all that, she finally talked to her father, shut him out, yelled at him, and now was on good terms with him. Of course, she wouldn't call them a real family. She wasn't even sure if they could be called friends yet. Normally, friends knew a little bit about each other, while Steve and Katie hardly did.

But that was fine right now.

Then, Katie suddenly realized something. They were all on their way to New York now, but would they all still be there on their way back? Yes, it'd only been a day or so since they all met, but she couldn't image what it would be like is she lost Natasha, Clint, Bruce, Thor or Tony. In fact, a little bit of worry started to make its way into her heart when she remembered that they didn't even know where Bruce and Thor were at the moment.

And she didn't even want to think about how she would feel if she lost Steve.

Sure, they weren't a family yet, but he was still her father and she still had a lot to tell him - things she just couldn't open up about yet - and she still had stories to be heard from him.

She wasn't ready to lose her father when she only just got him.

And Steve felt the same way.

As he glanced over at Katie, standing up and looking at the front window with a dazed look on her face, he couldn't help but feel a bit of fear take over him at the thought of maybe losing, not only the team, but mostly Katie.

For years, Peggy took care of Katie and helped her grow up. She protected her and helped her become the woman she was.

Steve knew he had yet to see the real Katie. He knew that all the jokes and smirks were masks, but he was willing to show Katie he was there for her. To help her open up to him more. He couldn't do that if she wasn't around.

And, as far as Steve knew, this was Katie's first big fight.

Peggy took care of her for years, but Steve had only known her for a month, and there was a possibility he would lose her today.

He couldn't do that to Peggy, or Katie.

"You okay?"

Snapping out of his thoughts, Steve found Katie looking over at him with a concreted look on her face, and he couldn't help but give her a small smile.

"I'm fine," He assured her. "You?"

Katie returned the small smile and shrugged her shoulders slightly. "Couldn't be better."

Steve could tell by the look in her eyes that it wasn't the complete truth, but he decided not to question her on it. Shortly after that, Clint spoke up.

"Holy shit."

Katie realized she most have been in a daze for longer then she thought as she lifted her gaze from Steve to back out the front window, and her eyes went wide.

Before them was New York. But that wasn't what caused Katie's eyes to grow the size of baseballs. You could see Stark Tower from where they were and, shooting out of the top of the tower, was a beam of pure light that hit the sky and opened up a giant wormhole. But, what shocked and scared them all the most, were the creatures that were coming out of the wormhole, shooting beams at everything and everyone.

"Well," Natasha spoke up, getting right down to business as they got closer to the city. "Looks like Plan A worked just fine."

"Get a hold of Stark," Steve walked over and stood next to Katie, behind Clint and Natasha as he took on the leader role.

Nodding, Natasha quickly got to work contacting Tony as they reached the city.

"Stark, we're on your three heading north-east."

"_What, did you stop for drive-thu?!" _Starks voice was heard throughout the plane. _"Swing up park, I'm gonna lay them out for you."_

Clint flew the plane down low, so they were level with the buildings. They flew through the streets, Natasha quickly hitting a button and a large gun descended out of the bottom of the plane, shooting at the Chitauri.

They flew up and around Stark tower, shooting the creatures on their way. As Katie looked out the window she saw Thor taking on Loki. She couldn't help but feel a weight lifting of her chest knowing that Thor was okay.

However, the relief was short lived as Loki spotted them and quickly shot his scepter at the wing of the plane.

Clint tried to gain control over the plane as they went down, but is was no use. He was, thankfully, able to slow down the plane as Katie and Steve gripped onto the rails above them. Then, the plane hit the ground, causing everyone to jerk forward as it slid across the ground before slowly coming to a stop.

"Everyone good?" Clint called out as he and Natasha quickly got out of their seat beats.

Katie shared a look with Steve as they gained their balance. Steve gave her a small nod, which Katie return before turning to Clint and telling him they were good as Natasha clicked a button and the drop door went down. The four quickly ran off the plane, taking a good look at the wrecked city as they did so.

"We have to get back up there!" Steve told them as they all ran down the street, everyone else running the opposite way, passed them and heading to safety.

Coming to a stop amongst all the torn up asphalt and flipped over cars, everyone looked up at the tower when suddenly the wormhole grew even bigger.

Katie's eyes couldn't help but grow wide as a giant, long, alien, whale-like _thing_ slowly made its way out of the wormhole and down towards the city, destroying everything in its wake. Just when Katie' thought it couldn't get any worse, little aliens jumped out of the giant thing and into or onto the buildings around it.

"Stark," Steve looked up at the sky. "Are you seeing this?"

"_Seeing," _Tony replied over the earpiece. _"Still working on believing. Where's Banner? Has he shown up yet?"_

Katie turned to Natasha with a raised eyebrow, but the red-head looked just as confused as she did.

"Banner?" Steve said, sounding just as confused as everyone else.

"_Just keep me posted."_

Steve was still confused for a few seconds before he turned to Natasha, Clint and Katie, leading them towards an over-turned taxi so they could take cover and plan their next move.

"What now?" Katie asked, looking up at Steve.

"We got civilians trapped in the roof." Clint pointed out when a group of aliens quickly zoomed by with a God leading the way.

"Loki." Steve looked up and over the taxi along with the others.

Katie watched as the aliens and Loki flipped and boomed everything in their wake, catching everything and nothing on fire as they raced down the street while innocent people ran for cover.

"They're fish in a barrel down there."

Just as these words left Steve's mouth, a group of aliens suddenly jumped in front of them and started shooting.

Clint quickly ran over and hid behind the car in front of them as Katie and Natasha took out their guns and started to fire at the creatures.

"We got this," Natasha turned to Steve. "Go."

Steve stared at Natasha for a moment before turning to Clint. "You think you can hold them off?"

"Captain," Clint smirked, setting up his bow and arrows. "It would be my genuine pleasure."

Steve nodded as Clint fired an arrow, before turning Katie, who looked up at him with raised eyebrows.

"Don't become the protective father now," She told him. "At least wait until after the alien invasion. Now, go!"

Steve gave Katie a nod and small smile before he got up and jumped over the bridge.

"Well, Rogers." Natasha turned to Katie slightly as they both stood up. "Ready for more training?"

Katie looked over at Natasha, raising an eyebrow at the girl as a smirk formed on her lips. Katie raised her gun and fired it, never taking her eyes off of Natasha, hitting an alien right in the head. What could she say, she had years of practice and her mother's aim.

"More than ready, Romanoff."

Natasha gave Katie a small smirk before they both got to work. They ran over to hide behind the flipped over cars in front of them, shooting aliens each and every way possible while Clint fired his arrows.

"Clint," Katie spoke up after a moment, nodding her head to the right as she shot another alien. "We need to get those people out of that bus."

Clint nodded, placing his bow around his neck. "Cover me."

Katie and Natasha kept on shooting at the aliens while Clint ran over and helped everyone out of the bus, allowing them to get to safety. However, it didn't take long for Katie to realize that shooting the aliens just wasn't working.

In no time, Clint had everyone out of the bus and was running back over to the girls, taking back out his bow and arrow as he stood between the red-head and blonde.

"Just like Budapest all over again!" Natasha yelled to Clint over all the shooting and fighting."

"You and I remember Budapest very differently." Clint replied as he continued to fire arrows. "I don't remember Katie being there."

"And I'm glad I wasn't." Katie shouted as she shot anything alien in the head, before adding as an afterthought, "I'd rather not know what happened in Budapest."

"You're wrong, Nat," Clint laughed lightly, firing and arrow that took out five aliens. "This is like training all over again."

"Speaking of," Katie said. "This isn't working. They aren't staying down."

"I've noticed." Natasha nodded. "What now?"

Katie stopped shooting off her gun before quickly putting it back in her holster. Placing her hands on the roof of the taxi she was hiding behind, she quickly pulled herself up, before jumping off the car, spinning as she stuck out her leg and hitting one the aliens in the side of the face. The creature fell to the ground as Katie ended up in a crouch, now facing Natasha and Clint.

"That works," Clint nodded, jumping over a taxi with Natasha hot on his heels.

Katie quickly stood up, turning around and roundhouse kicking the closest alien to her right in the stomach as Clint and Natasha joined her, taking on whatever alien they could.

Punches, kicks, arrows, bullets, everything was flying everywhere as the threesome tried to take down all the aliens. Natasha ended up on the shoulders of one and took it down, while Clint slide across the ground, shooting an arrow that took out three more aliens. Katie flipped an alien over her back before kicking it hard in the face, when a sudden thought hit her. She quickly picked up the scepters two of the aliens - who were now on the gourd - before spinning around.

"Tash!"

Natasha punched the alien she was fighting out before she turned around to face Katie, who threw one of the scepters at her.

Natasha quickly caught it, before looking between it and back up at Katie. Katie gave her a smirk before swing it around and stabbing and alien who was coming at her, right in the stomach.

As the girls worked with the scepters, stabbing and shooting aliens every which way, Clint was taking the aliens to the ground and stabbing them with his arrows and shooting as many as he could.

They were actually holding their own.

However, their little win over the aliens was short lived as the creatures soon got the upper-hand a bit. They backed Clint, Natasha and Katie into each other as they kept on fighting, taking out whoever they could.

Suddenly, a flash of red, white and blue came out of nowhere, blocking the aliens from getting to the Natasha, Clint and Katie before Steve quickly used his shield to take out five of the aliens.

Katie looked up at Steve as he turned around. She opened her mouth to say something when Steve cut her off.

"I know," Steve smiled at her slightly. "You can handle yourself."

Katie smiled at him as a flash of lightening suddenly came down, grabbing the four avengers' attention as it took out the last bit of the aliens they were fighting a minute ago. Then Thor fell out of the sky, landing unsteadily a few feet away from them.

"What's the story upstairs?" Steve asked as they all met up.

"The powers surrounding the cub is impenetrable." Thor told them before Tony's voice was heard over their earpieces.

"_Thor's right. We gotta deal with these guys."_

"And how do we do that?" Natasha spoke up. "These things aren't the easiest to take down."

"As a team." Steve informed them before Thor spoke up.

"I have unfinished business with Loki."

"Get in line," Clint and Katie both said at the same moment, an image of Phil lying broken on the floor flashed before Katie's eyes, rage welling up in her stomach.

"Save it," Steve cut them back off. "Loki's going to keep this fight focused on us and that's what we need. Without him, these things could run wild." Steve turned around so we was now facing Thor, Katie, Clint and Natasha. "We have Stark up top, he's going to need us…"

"Steve." Katie spoke up suddenly, nodded behind him, causing Steve to turn around.

Shock took over their faces as they say Bruce Banner riding towards them on an old motorbike. Katie was surprised he actually made it to them, as she shared a quick look with Natasha. The whole group moved forward to met Bruce, as he got off the bike and slowly walked towards them.

"So," he cleared his throat as he took in everyone. "This is horrible."

"I've seen worse." Natasha spoke up, causing Katie to glance over at her for a quick moment before turning back to Bruce, who looked between the two girls.

"Yeah, sorry."

"No, we could use a little worse." Natasha assured him as Steve informed Tony that Bruce was here.

"_Tell him to suit up. I'm bringing the party to you."_

The moment Tony informed them of this, a roar-like sound was heard followed by Tony flying around the corner of a building not too far in front of the group on the ground. The giant alien creature was following behind him.

"Yeah," Katie spoke up slowly. "Not my kind of party."

"I don't see how that _is_ a party." Natasha said, not taking her eyes off the creature as it moved towards them.

Turning around, Bruce slowly made his way towards the alien, as he informed the group of his secret. He was always angry. Then, just seconds before the alien reached Bruce, he morphed into the Hulk, taking down the giant creature in one swift movement.

The force that the Hulk used to punch the alien caused it to flip over, slowing falling over towards the group on the ground. Thankfully, Tony suddenly appeared and shot at the aliens soft spot, causing it to explode as the Avengers on the ground quickly took cover. Steve covered Natasha with his shield as Clint took cover behind a car and Katie spun around, crouching on the ground as Thor covered her.

"Thanks," Katie smiled up at Thor as they stood back up.

"It was no problem, Lady Katherine." Thor smiled back just as Tony came to the ground.

And there they were, all the Avengers standing side by side in a circle back on to each other. Katie actually started to think that they could do this. Sure, they weren't more than a team at this point because hell, who else would fight aliens. But, they were starting to seem like a good enough team to actually win this battle.

However, as Natasha's voice rang in Katie's ears, causing the blonde to spin around, Katie had to mentally kick herself.

"Well, damn_."_

* * *

><p><strong>Hope you guys enjoyed the chapter! Big thanks to <em>Tospringe<em> for editing this chapter.**

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